Kia has proven that the next generation of the Kia Rio city car will arrive in Australia, and the call will be cancelled here after the existing styling reaches the end of diversity in the coming years, amid declining city car sales here and abroad.
In a statement to the media this afternoon, Kia Australia announced that the next-generation Rio will not be built with right-hand drive, confirming that the nameplate will leave the Australian market after 23 years.
The Kia Rio is expected to live on as a more affordable vehicle for Eastern Europe, China and other emerging markets with less stringent protection and emissions standards.
However, it will be phased out in Australia, as well as in the UK and Europe, according to British magazine Autocar.
No date has been given for the discontinuation of the existing Kia Rio in Australia, but in the UK it is expected to be scrapped before the end of 2023.
The examples for Australia are built in the same South Korean factory as British cars, which would imply that newer Australian deliveries are unlikely to be left behind.
“The next (seventh) generation Rio will not be produced [right-hand drive],” a Kia Australia spokesperson said in a message to Drive.
“The award-winning Rio has been formidable for Kia in the Australian market with 162,494 games sold since its debut in mid-2000. “
The Kia Rio is one of the last new cars to sell locally for less than $25,000 in a car, amid declining city car sales globally that have killed the models, as well as prices related to new protective technologies and vehicle production in the wake of the pandemic.
Kia Australia has shown that the smaller Picanto and Cerato sedans will remain on sale. The former is expected to receive a facelift later this year, while the latter is expected to go through an entirely new generation in the next two years.
The Rio’s SUV sibling, the Stonic, will also be on sale.
The company says there are “new models in segments that are being studied recently for our market,” which could come with a long-endurance electric car similar in size to today’s Rio.
News of the Kia Rio’s demise in Europe and Australia means it joins the city’s list of cars on record.
Production of the Ford Fiesta is scheduled to end in June and the Volkswagen Polo would likely see no generation. The long-term of the larger Hyundai i30 sedan is also bleak.
Kia is one of two automakers left with a new vehicle on sale for less than $20,000 in Australia, along with its Picanto, priced at $18,890 in one, along with the Chinese MG.
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