The project, called ‘Kia – Planting for a Better Life’, will guarantee the planting of up to six million jatropha shrubs over the next three years, helping to secure a brighter future for communities in the area by boosting agricultural output and generating income for farmers and their families.

Supported by Kia’s 14 wholly-owned European subsidiaries* including Kia Motors UK Ltd., the project will see Kia making a donation equivalent to six jatropha seedlings for each vehicle sold in the participating countries, up to a maximum value of £500,000 each year.

An integral part of Kia’s Corporate Social Responsibility activity, the project will be implemented for Kia by the Netherlands-based ‘Trees for All’ organisation. The foundation has broad experience of jatropha planting programmes and has worked with Kia Netherlands and Kia Sweden on projects in Mali since 2007. These earlier initiatives have already been responsible for establishing 2.3 million trees, and have set up 51 Jatropha Field Schools – teaching more than 5,000 local farmers to-date how best to use the shrubs and how to achieve better yields of key crops, such as maize, sorgho and peanuts.

“This important project will deliver rapid, genuine and long-term benefits to Malian farmers, their families and their communities, in a variety of ways, for many years to come,” comments Paul Philpott, COO Kia Motors Europe.

The jatropha shrub is a hardy, drought- and pest-resilient evergreen perennial which has numerous benefits. It is toxic to wild animals so makes an ideal hedge plant or ‘living fence’ with which farmers can ring other crops. It also helps prevent soil erosion and, from year five onwards, produces an average yield of 3.5 kg of ‘climate nuts’ sufficient to create 0.5 litres of bio-diesel fuel, boosting the farmer’s income.

“The earlier projects supported by two of Kia’s national subsidiaries have been hugely beneficial for the farmers and local communities concerned and have demonstrated what could be achieved with even greater support. Now, with Kia pledging its involvement across many key markets in Europe, the new planting programme can be taken to a much higher level, facilitating a vastly extended planting schedule,” added Philpott.

For more information about the project, watch the YouTube video:

 http://youtu.be/sd2–X5MMWg

Combining dynamic, sophisticated styling with maturity and prestige, the all-new cee’d five-door hatchback the new cee’d is longer, wider and lower than its predecessor, with the same long wheelbase. The elegant simplicity of its coupe-like proportions is emphasised by a steeply raked A-pillar, a very low belt-line in the front and lengthened side windows.

The front of the new cee’d is dominated by the latest interpretation of Kia’s trademark ‘tiger-nose’ grille and aggressive, wraparound headlamp clusters housing signature LED daytime running lights.

Wide track and solid stance

In profile the pronounced front and rear wings emphasise the car’s wide track and solid stance whilst above the taut, strongly sculpted door surfaces, the steeply raked A-pillar, sweeping roofline and integral rear spoiler accentuate the sporting aesthetics of the new model’s generous glasshouse.

The entire exterior is accented by numerous small yet highly significant detail touches which add to the prestige and premium feel of the new cee’d without detracting from the purity and elegance of the overall design.

These include a new, bolder, more sophisticated Kia badge, the indicator blade protrusion in the front headlamps, the Kia-signature windscreen head castellations, the chrome side glazing surround and the cee’d-unique, aerodynamic shaping of the tail lamp which extends into the adjacent bodywork.

New premium interior

The new cee’d features a completely new interior hallmarked by a more premium look and feel, higher perceived quality, improved switchgear, touch-screen technology and enhanced driving position ergonomics.

The dashboard layout features a cockpit-like design with an aircraft-themed, driver-oriented fascia. The main control panel wraps around the steering wheel, placing all switchgear within easy reach of the driver, and the main control groups such as audio and air-conditioning have been segregated to bring a more premium, luxurious, big car feel to the interior.

Carefully considered precision detailing gives the cabin a more prestigious look and feel than that of the current generation model. Soft touch materials add a new tactility to the driving environment. Instruments and switchgear are picked out in very thin chrome, the door handles are built up in a layered sandwich of high quality materials and the door opener itself has a sculpted, one-piece, shell-like quality reflecting the premium values of the new interior design.

Codenamed KH, the new model is Kia’s first ever rear-wheel drive sedan and combines innovative design with high-tech features.  KH is among the company’s most eagerly anticipated new models and will be launched in Kia’s domestic market in the first half of 2012.  There are no plans to launch the vehicle in mainland Europe and the car will not be coming to the UK.

The design concept behind KH is ‘distinctive, modern and classic’, which is expressed through sophisticated, technically-advanced elements combined with Kia’s existing dynamic design language to create a vehicle that truly stands out from its competitors.

The new model features a bold front-end design appropriate to a luxury car.  Kia’s charismatic family-look radiator grille is flanked by modern headlamps that reinforce the brand’s innovative challenger image, and the proportions of the unique hood design give KH a classic car-like feel.

KH’s profile, which was a key focus for Kia’s designers during development, features a simple side character line to give a feeling of spaciousness while emphasizing the new model’s bold and dynamic image.  The high-tech rear combination lamp clusters, plus the luxurious, bold chrome accent give KH a sophisticated and stable rear view.

Soon-Nam Lee, Kia’s Director of the Overseas Marketing Group, says, “Our all-new flagship sedan integrates all of our key capabilities such as design, performance, high-tech features and infotainment into one striking model.

“Although launch timings for those overseas markets it will go to are yet to be confirmed, this all-new rear-wheel drive large sedan will definitely become the leading model of our global line-up, showcasing the best of the best of Kia.”

“The idea was to make the Track’ster tough looking, like a bulldog,” said Tom Kearns, Chief Designer for KMA. “But the car had to be approachable as well. We wanted to base the car in reality so people instantly knew it was a Soul, but with a lot of attitude. It had to be a bold interpretation that would change people’s conceptions of what a sporty Kia could be.”

Mission accomplished.

The bold attitude Kearns refers to starts with the eye-catching Whiteout and Inferno Orange paint scheme. While the white portrays complex layers and shades that contribute to dramatic depth, the orange is perfectly suited for racing. Kia’s signature grille features an air intake slit and is trimmed in lightweight carbon fibre. Smoothly integrated head lights sweep back suggestively over the sculpted front-wheel arches. The deeply recessed lenses echo the trapezoid themes found throughout the Track’ster and are accented with compelling LEDs.

Most striking up front is the Track’ster’s lower intake grille. Flanked by immense LED driving lights with billet aluminium surrounds, the Track’ster is capable of devouring prodigious amounts of air to keep the engine running cool even under the most gruelling conditions. The lower valance, trimmed in carbon fibre and accented with Inferno Orange, rides just inches off the ground and lends to the car’s menacing stance.

The Track’ster is not just another pretty face; it has a body to match. Sculpted surfaces seem to flow into each other naturally. The flanks are smooth but accented with well-defined wheel enclosures. Tucked beneath the Track’ster’s hips are custom HRE-K1 monoblock billet performance wheels that were a joint effort of Kia’s California design team and HRE. The wheels are wrapped in 245/40-19-inch front and massive 285/35-19-inch rear Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 high-performance tyres.

The wheelbase on the concept is stretched to 101.2-inches, almost an inch longer than the production Soul. As expected on a car with the Track’ster’s performance intentions, large 14-inch Brembo vented and cross-drilled disc brakes are embraced by six-piston callipers up front and 13.6-inch discs are paired with four-piston calipers at the rear.

Soul fans will instantly recognise the Track’ster’s angled roof, accented with Inferno Orange. Closer inspection reveals this concept, while Soul inspired, is missing the production car’s rear doors. The front doors have been lengthened and adorned with smooth billet push-style handles which echo the racing-inspired billet fuel filler door. Carbon fibre lower side valances are also accented in Inferno Orange and incorporate functional rear-brake cooling ducts. The rear hatch incorporates a horizontal Inferno Orange “backpack” panel that accentuates the Track’ster’s 75.5-inch width, which is more than 5-inches wider than a production Soul.

Performance on road and track

With performance as the top priority, the Track’ster rolls into Chicago with a concept drivetrain sure to kick start any driving enthusiast’s heart. KMA’s design team dreamed big, but also kept their vision firmly rooted in reality. A 2.0-litre turbocharged in-line-four engine puts 250 horsepower to the road, a 66 per cent increase over that of the production Soul. Power is routed to all four wheels via an electronically controlled four-wheel-drive system. The short-throw six-speed manual transmission is capped with a stubby spherical shift lever. The Track’ster rides on a lowered sport suspension tuned for track performance.

Opening the driver’s door reveals a light and airy interior highlighted with deeply bolstered Inferno Orange suede-covered racing seats. Granite Grey leather envelopes the interior landscape and imparts a feeling of strength and stability. Granite Grey suede wraps the sport steering wheel and door panels. Located deep within red-glowing nacelles, the primary instruments are large and easily readable. Auxiliary vehicle information such as oil temperature and battery voltage is found atop the dash panel while navigation, entertainment and ventilation controls are accessed through a large touch-screen panel located just above the engine Start/Stop push-button.

Behind the front seats is where Track’ster takes a significant step away from its Soul stablemate. The rear seats have been removed and replaced with a fully integrated equipment tray and spare-tyre well. “We saw the Track’ster as a performance-inspired concept that could spend time on the road and racetrack,” said Kearns. “The idea was to make the tools and equipment necessary to keep the car performing in top condition easily accessible.” Large panelled bins stow racing gear such as helmets, suits, gloves and tools while emergency supplies are housed within a separate and highly visible Inferno Orange container. A custom rear strut brace incorporates a quick-release handle to allow for fast wheel changes.

While there are no current plans to produce the Track’ster, Kia’s California design centre team enthusiastically took on the project. “Concept cars are icing on the cake,” said Kearns. “They allow KMA’s design team to dream about what could be. Whether that dream becomes a reality or not is a separate question.”

Kia has got off to a strong start in 2012 by out-performing the UK car market in January with registrations up thirty eight per cent compared to 2011. The UK car market was up by 0.03 per cent.

Kia vehicles found 4,282 new homes in January with both the retail and fleet markets up significantly – retail sales rose 33.6 per cent (to 2,010 units) whilst fleet sales rose 42.4 per cent (to 2,272 units). Market share in January was 3.32 per cent – up from 2.41 per cent in 2011.

Commenting on the results, Michael Cole, Managing Director, Kia Motors (UK) Limited said: “It’s a great start to the year for us and it builds upon a solid performance last year. All-new Picanto and all-new Rio have proved popular with customers since coming to us during the second-half of 2011 and Sportage is continuing to do very well with both retail and fleet customers alike.

“With the recent launch of the Optima, we have brought all-new A-, B- and D-segment cars to the UK market in under eight months. With all-new cee’d, our C-segment family car, set to be unveiled at the forthcoming Geneva Motor Show we’re predicting that 2012 will be Kia’s best ever year in the UK.”

Kia today (Tuesday 2 February), unveiled its latest concept based on the Soul city car at the Chicago auto show.

Powerful, dynamic and aggressive, Kia’s new concept car displays yet again the distinctive design direction that the South Korean manufacturer is taking. Track’ster is intended to be the ultimate sporting representation of Kia’s Soul B- segment SUV.

Kia’s innovative and hugely successful urban crossover, the Soul, was originally created in the California Studio, the birthplace of the Soul’ster convertible concept that is currently under final assessment for production. Soul has been a hit with US consumers and in 2011 more than 102,000 were delivered to owners.

California studio Chief Designer Tom Kearns and his team have designed the Track’ster concept car in keeping with the Soul’s rebellious, individual and urban character.

Currently, there are no plans for Track’ster to enter production.

The new Kia Rio is available to order now in three door guise for the first time in its history.

The line-up of ultra-efficient engines, easy-to-understand trim levels and external dimensions from the five door, that went on sale in September last year, are carried over to Rio 3-door.  A striking coupé-like side profile and a £600 saving, compared to equivalent five door models, add to Kia’s already appealing B-segment hatchback.

Efficient Engines

Rio 3-door is available with a choice of four engines – two petrol and two diesel that are carried over unchanged from the five door version.  The highly efficient and much acclaimed 1.1 CRDi delivers sprightly performance from its 74bhp and 170Nm of torque available from a mere 1,500rpm and all versions deliver CO₂ emissions of 99g/km or below and fuel economy of at least 74.3mpg.

EcoDynamics technologies, such as Intelligent Stop & Go, will be a standard feature with all new Rio diesels, including the 1.4-litre models. The 1.4 CRDi is a four-cylinder diesel engine from the same U2 family as the 1.1.  It develops 89bhp and 220Nm of torque.  Economy and emissions figures are 70.6mpg combined and just 105 g/km of CO_2.

There are also two petrol engines in the new Rio.  The entry-level unit is the 1.25-litre Kappa engine which made its debut in Kia’s smallest car, the new Picanto.  This engine develops 83bhp and 121Nm of torque.  The new Rio is also available with Kia’s 1.4-litre Gamma engine, developing 107bhp and 137Nm of torque.  It also offers buyers the convenience of an automatic gearbox as an option to the standard manual.

All petrol manual versions of the new Rio comfortably exceed 50mpg, with CO₂ emissions below the EU’s 2012 corporate average target of 130g/km. Even the 1.4-litre automatic version of the Rio is capable of 44.1mpg in mixed driving.

Four trim grades with a high standard specification

Rio 3-door is offered in the same four easily understood trim grades – badged ‘1′, ‘1 Air’, ‘2′ and ‘3′ -  as the five door version.

Even on entry level ‘1′, standard features include daytime running lights, body-coloured bumpers, door handles and door mirrors, speed-variable front wipers, headlamp levelling, front electric windows, 15-inch steel wheels, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, two-way steering column adjustment on the petrol model (height-adjustable only on the entry level diesel), a tachometer and trip computer, split folding rear seats, a boot light, a 12-volt power socket and an MP3-compatible RDS radio and CD player with USB and AUX ports.  Bluetooth is also standard on the petrol entry model, and on all versions with other trim grades.

The ‘1 Air’ grade is for buyers who want the comfort of air conditioning without upgrading to level ‘2′.

The ‘2′ is distinguished by 16-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights and a chrome radiator grille surround.  Inside, there is premium black cloth upholstery, a cooling glovebox, electrically adjustable heated and folding door mirrors with side repeaters, leather trim on the steering wheel and gearshift and a centre console armrest.

The luxurious level ‘3′ specification adds 17-inch alloys with low-profile tyres, LED daytime running and rear combination lamps, automatic air conditioning with auto de-fog, rain sensing wipers, cruise control, automatic projection-type headlights, heated front seats and six speakers instead of four.

And every new Rio, as with all Kias, is covered by the best warranty in the business, extending to seven years or 100,000 miles on parts and labour, excluding wear and tear items and subject to certain conditions.

Insurance ratings are very low – as low as group three for the 1.1 CRDi versions.  The 1.25-litre versions are in group five whilst the 1.4-litre petrol and CRDi versions are still only in group eight.

Democracy in safety

In terms of safety all Rio models enjoy exactly the same standard safety specification.  The package includes the potentially life-saving features of electronic stability control (ESC), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), emergency brake assist (EBA) in addition to emergency stop signalling (ESS).

The new Rio also includes the helpful feature of Hill-start Assist Control (HAC) to prevent the car momentarily rolling backwards when pulling away up steep gradients.

Should an accident be unavoidable, the new Rio has a stiff body shell featuring front and rear crumple zones that absorb and dissipate crash energy to minimise the risk of injury to occupants as well as twin front, side and curtain airbags and seat belt pre-tensioners with load limiters for the front occupants.

Kia Care-3: Great value servicing

First introduced on the recently launched Picanto, Rio 5-door and all-new Optima, Kia’s Care-3 all inclusive national servicing package is also available on the new Rio 3-door.  The Rio’s service intervals are 12 months or 10,000 miles across all four engines.

The Care-3 package is just £259 including VAT, which covers the first three services – either 36 months or 30,000 miles or the Care-3 Plus package is just £499 including VAT which covers the first five services – either 60 months or 50,000 miles.

These packages are not just excellent value for money, they offer a fixed cost and inflation proof servicing for the full three or five years. All work will be carried out by trained product technicians, using genuine Kia replacement parts and specified oils.

The Care-3 and Care-3 Plus package stays with the car, so is fully transferable to another customer. If a second owner would like the five year service package – on a vehicle with a Care-3 package, the new owner can top-up this package to cover the next two years.

The UK Rio 3-door model line-up and pricing  

Rio 3-door dimensions and weights - All unchanged from Rio 5-door. 

Immediately handed over to a Slovakian children’s charity – the Red Nose Clowndoctors – the cee’d is also the 600,000^th version of the Zilina factory’s first car. The factory now also produces Sportage and Venga.

“Kia Motors Slovakia has achieved an important milestone in its history with the production of the millionth car. We decided to donate it to an organisation which will bring pleasure to children during their stay in hospitals,” said Eek-Hee Lee, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia.

Kia Motors Slovakia recorded a 10% year-on-year increase in car production and a 12% year-on-year increase in engine production during 2011, when it produced more than 252,000 cars and 359,000 engines. The factory plans to produce around 285,000 cars this year.

Sportage production in 2011 topped 101,000 units, representing 40% of the overall production. A total of 103,000 cee’d models were produced, or 41% of the total production and 11,000 Kia Venga models. The remainder of 2011 production, 36,000 units, were Hyundai ix35 manufactured up to June 2011.

Kia Motors Slovakia launched a third shift this year and increased the number of employees to 3,900. The company is currently preparing for production of the second generation of the cee’d model during the second quarter.

The first of Kia’s new global standard Red Cube showrooms has opened at Arnold Clark Northwich in Cheshire – bringing a strong new design-led image to the brand’s growing network.

The Red Cube concept has been created to deliver the most complete visual representation of Kia’s design-focused brand strategy and whilst the new showrooms will only open at major new-build sites many of the concept’s elements will soon be found at all Kia showrooms in the UK.

Built on an existing Arnold Clark four-acre site in a high-traffic location, the dramatic new-look showroom features strong red cladding, distinctive side-return architecture and a clean, impressive interior to give customers an even more professional and comfortable experience when they are either buying a new Kia or returning for after-sales service.

Simon Hetherington, Dealer Development Director at Kia Motors (UK) Ltd., said: “This is a dramatic new look for Kia across the globe and I am proud that the UK has one of the first such new showrooms to open in Europe. We do not expect all of our dealers to invest in such buildings, but many of the elements contained in Red Cube can already be found in about one third of our 170 UK dealerships and by the end of this year almost all of our dealers will have adopted our new brand identity.

“The Red Cube gives us real stand out at new build and landmark sites and I would expect another five or six such showrooms in the UK over the course of the next year,” he added.

The Arnold Clark Northwich showroom took 16 weeks to build and is the group’s eighth Kia dealership across the country.

Eddie Hawthorne, Managing Director of Arnold Clark Automobiles Ltd., said: “We are delighted with the new showroom and it is great to be the first in the UK to showcase Kia’s new flagship Red Cube.

“We were very happy with the build process, we are very happy with its simple, practical but stunning style and I am sure it is going to really deliver for Arnold Clark,” he added.

Kia Motors produced a record 252,000 cars at its Zilina, Slovakia factory last year – a 10 per cent increase over 2010. The plant also achieved a 12 per cent year-on-year increase in engine production, with more than 359,000 petrol and diesel engines rolling off the production lines in 2011.

With the opening of a second engine shop last year, maximum engine production at Zilina has increased to 450,000 per year. To meet increasing demand and the transferred production of Venga, Kia currently employs more than 3,900 people at Zilina and is planning to raise output in Slovakia even further, aiming to produce 285,000 vehicles this year.

“Last year was very positive for Kia in Europe as we achieved record figures for vehicle and engine production,” said Eek-Hee Lee, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia. “Our focus for 2012 is on embedding a regular three-shift operation so we can reach full plant capacity within the first quarter of the year, and then make preparations for volume production of the all-new Kia cee’d, which will be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March,” he added.

Kia Motors Slovakia exports vehicles to the whole of Europe. The main export markets in 2011 were as follows: 23 per cent of total production output was delivered to Russia, 10 per cent to Great Britain, 9 per cent to Germany, 8 per cent to Spain and 5 per cent to France. The Kia cee’d family accounted for 41 per cent of production at Zilina in 2011, just ahead of the Sportage compact SUV on 40 per cent.