Kia Launching RWD Car, Developing 7-Speed DCT

KIA WILL BEGIN PRODUCTION OF A REAR-wheel-drive car in May 2012, company officials tell media in Seoul.

Launch markets have not been determined. A Kia spokesman does not say if the car will share a platform with the RWD Hyundai Genesis and Equus large sedans.

“Size-wise, it will be between the Genesis and the Equus,” Kia spokesman Michael Choo tells Ward's. A concept Kia RWD car is slated to debut this month at the Frankfurt auto show.

Soon-Nam Lee, Kia's director-overseas marketing, says a RWD coupe is under consideration, but not confirmed.

Besides an all-new model, Kia — which aggressively has been replacing engines and transmissions — says additional powertrain technology is due for its existing models. Hyundai-Kia engineers already are developing a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.

“We have finished the basic design,” says K.H. Lee of the automatic transmission test department at Hyundai-Kia's Namyang research and development center. Prototypes were completed in July.

A 6-speed DCT is set for the Hyundai Veloster in the U.S. Lee says the 7-speed DCT likely is two model years away.

Kia also will keep the current Sedona minivan for at least another year, even though the auto maker already has redesigned the rest of its model lineup.

A new Sedona is due either for the '13 model year or calendar-year 2013, Kia Motors America's Michael Sprague, vice president-marketing, tells Ward's.

There are several reasons for the holdup, he says. Kia's design staff still is evaluating reaction to the boxy, wildly styled KV7 concept van that debuted at the Detroit auto show earlier this year, and the current Sedona that went on sale in early 2006 still is selling well.