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Kia Australia’s Senior Product Manager, Jeff Shafer, has hinted that a new wagon version of the flagship Optima range is about to join the carmaker's line-up.
While stopping short of confirming a production schedule, Mr Shafer told TMR this week that fans of the recent Sportspace concept can “read between the lines”.
Reports of an Optima wagon have been circulating for many months, and the unveiling of the Sportspace ahead of next month's Geneva Motor Show has only served to fan the flames.
Still, an Optima wagon would not necessarily be an automatic starter for Australia, with wagon sales slowly giving way to the hugely popular SUV segment over the past decade.
“With wagons in particular, in Australia, we certainly need to look very closely at the market,” Mr Shafer said.
“This hasn’t been a strong wagon market [of late], as SUVs are certainly the dominant trend."
"But, having said that, the reaction to Sportspace in terms of everybody has been great - I think on The Motor Report in particular there have been some great comments. And I probably share those views, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
The Sportspace will make its official debut at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, followed by the Optima sedan in April at the New York Auto Show.
Aside from potentially previewing a new Optima wagon, the Sportspace also gives us our first look at styling cues that may feature with the Optima sedan.
The new Optima sedan was spied testing in September last year, while the model's new dash was revealed in a spy photo this month.
The recently-updated Picanto city car is also a possibility for a local berth, with Kia Australia’s Chief Operating Officer, Damien Meredith, an avowed fan of the pint-sized hatch.
“We haven’t made any secret that it’s a product we want to introduce,” Mr Shafer said.
“We don’t have any confirmed plans at the moment but we are certainly exploring that with [head office in] Korea, I know Damien personally has a very strong interest in the car, so we’re definitely looking at it.”
Stay tuned to TMR for more news from the Geneva Motor Show.
MORE: Kia Australia To Promote Product Values In Sales Hunt
MORE News & Reviews: Kia | Optima | Wagons
- Interested in buying KIA OPTIMA? Visit our KIA OPTIMA showroom for more information.
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10 Comments
Traditional wagons are rapidly becoming niche vehicles... SUVs is where mainstream is now. Nice but likely to be irrelevant.
Yeah but it's not about the wagon per se, what it's really showing is how amazingly cool the next Optima sedan is likely to look. The wagon is clearly for Europe, where I believe the Geneva Car Show will be held.
KIA would be crazy to not bring it here as a niche product :rolleyes:
love it!
Very nice. Kia moving forward in leaps and bounds.
Never considered a wagon- but if this came- Kia shut up and take my money!! Aggressive styling a winner!
I reckon it would sell in decent numbers. Mazda 6 wagon case in point. Plenty of people have walked into a Mazda dealer and drove out in a 6 wagon rather than a cx5. Not as many I know. But still proves there are buyers out there that like a stylish but sensible wagon rather than a SUV.
I agree with Selldivision. Wagons will still sell, and the Mazda 6 wagon is a great example. Very stylish, good value (touring model particularly), economical and heaps of space. At the moment SUV's certainly are all the rage, but wagons will always be around. I'm not a big Kia fan, but if it looks like this, I might consider :) Kia certainly have come a long way in recent times
We are a performance car country remember! If Kia position this car as a little hot performance wagon it will sell well. Just make sure they do local suspension tuning and target the GT touring buyers.
I agree with Festoon Barp and Motormouth. Niche Car. Pull up an Acura TSX wagon. The Sportspace looks like a very close relative with more aero effects. The front spoiler could have been removed from the Acura wagon. i am a true wagon lover (2 Volvo wagons, Subaru wagon, Acura wagon). SUVs to me are a wagon on steroids for all those people that would never own a wagon. I've owned a BMW wagon, three 4-runners, a Sequoia, an MDX, a Tahoe and a Suburban. They all had wagon looks and they sat up high. ALL got terrible mileage. Now i own my old Suburban 4x4 for boat duty and a TSX Wagon that i like, especially the 30 mpg. I loved the acceleration of my 07 Acura TL-S with 285hp. it was a 23mpg on the highway car. Almost all Acura wagons sold in Europe are diesels & the Acura wagon was sold for almost 5 years as a Honda wagon prior to coming to the USA. America is not going to support wagons in any volume yet, but someday...