Kia confirms Stonic SUV landing next year

Tuesday, 13 October 2020

Blu from CarNut checks out the entry level Kia Seltos LX. (First published August 2020)

The Kia brand is poised to continue its strong sales momentum when it adds a fifth SUV model line to its New Zealand range from early 2021.

The new Kia Stonic has been confirmed for the Kiwi market with a $21,990 introductory price (plus on road costs) that is expected to put the newcomer immediately into the crossover spotlight.

The Stonic is a slightly raised height crossover design that shares its platform underpinnings with the Rio hatchback along with the Hyundai Kona and i20. The Stonic has a 2580mm wheelbase - the same as the Rio hatchback and 20mm shorter than the Kona – and is 75mm longer than the Rio.

The Kia Stonic is launching in New Zealand next year at a price barely breaking the $20k mark.

“Stonic is a vehicle that is going to surprise a lot of people – not just because of our special introductory price. It really does bring fresh excitement to the crossover experience,’’ said Todd McDonald, managing director of Kia Motors New Zealand.

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Two variants will be offered, the higher-specced of the two likely being the GT Line.

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Kia has enjoyed strong success in 2020 with a similar aggressive pricing strategy on its new Seltos SUV while the Sportage has continued to sell strongly and the market has just received the new generation Sorento large SUV. The fifth element of the Kia SUV family are the Niro Hybrid and EV models.

This year has seen Kia as one of the top performing brands. During 2019 Kia ranked sixth in New Zealand’s passenger car and SUV segment and it’s strong 2020 (Jan-Sept) performance has seen in climb to number two position behind Toyota. The Sportage and Seltos are the second and fourth best-selling passenger models in New Zealand to-date this year.

The Stonic model range will include the same 1.4-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine and six-speed automatic transmission which powers most Rio hatchback model variants as well as the three-cylinder 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol and seven-speed dual clutch transmission combination from the Rio GT Line.

Kia hasn't confirmed final model details but we assume the turbocharged Stonic will carry the GT Line badge as well.

Dealers are scheduled to take delivery of evaluation vehicles by the end of November, with customer deliveries starting in the New Year. Securing a Stonic at the special introductory price requires registering interest on the Kia website before end of December 2020 and placing a deposit.