The Kia GT sports coupe will finally arrive in the UK next year, and according to Kia bosses it’s set to be the most powerful Kia-badged car ever seen in Europe.
First hinted at all the way back in 2011, the four-door GT and its two-door GT4 Stinger Concept counterpart have been two of the most highly anticipated cars of the past few years.
Yet despite the fact that both have sat on the fringes for a while, it’s only very recently that prototypes of the GT have been spotted testing at the Nurburgring in Germany.
400bhp V6 engine rumoured
Details are still fuzzy, but it’s expected that the Kia GT will have a front-engined design with rear-wheel drive, and a power output of around 400bhp.
Speaking to Top Gear at the Paris Motor Show last week, Kia’s high performance head Albert Biermann, formerly of BMW’s M Division, said the GT will be Kia’s “most powerful car in Europe by far”.
Currently, the Korean manufacturer sells a 420bhp V8-powered saloon in the US called the K900, so it’s expected that the GT will have a similar output, likely with a V6 engine in the range.
More hot Kias on the way
Biermann, who was hired to make Kia’s cars more dynamic than their Hyundai siblings also didn’t rule out the possibility of more performance cars, including a hot hatch version of the new Rio.
He said: “I could see a Rio GT. There is no plan at the moment. But personally, I like small powerful cars!”
