Spied: Kia’s Mazda 5-Sized People Mover

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE We spotted this camouflaged Kia test vehicle near our offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan — which is no surprise given that Hyundai and Kia have a joint technical center on the outskirts of the city. This model appears to be a new people mover, slightly smaller than a minivan but without the typical proportions of an SUV.

Our spy photographer informs us that the Kia was approximately the same size as a Mazda 5, which is a seven-passenger vehicle that is about two feet shorter than every other minivan sold in America. The Kia’s fascia wears the wide, rounded mesh grille seen on other new models like the Rio and Optima. The rear doors are quite long, presumably to make for easier access, while the roofline curves only subtly toward the rear window.

We believe this is a new version of the Kia Carens people mover, which is sold in several foreign markets. As with the almost-identical prototype we spied in Europe, the new vehicle is probably based on the European-market Kia Cee’d. The Cee’d hatchback and wagon ride on a very similar platform to the Hyundai Elantra, and that platform sharing could make it easier for Kia to federalize a Cee’d-based people mover for the U.S. market.

Courtesy of Automobilemag