Kia Stonic is a B-class SUV, a competitor of Ford Ecosport, Chevrolet Trax,Nissan Juke, Mazda CX-3.
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Kia has just introduced the Stonic in the UK. This model is expected to become Kia's best-selling car thanks to the booming small SUV segment. Stonic is Kia's outstanding product aimed at the B-SUV segment, which is fiercely competing with names such as Nissan Juke, Mazda CX-3, Ford Ecosport, Chevrolet Trax... |
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The car is expected to cost around £15,000-16,000 when it goes on sale in October. Essentially, the Stonic is built on the Rio sedan and hatchback platform but with many improvements in technology and features. |
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The body is made of 51% high-strength steel by Hyundai Group (owner of the Kia brand). The base version weighs only 1,069 kg. |
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The car has many versions. The basic version is equipped with a 1.25-liter gasoline engine, 83 horsepower, combined with a 5-speed gearbox. The version uses a 1.4-liter engine, 99 horsepower. The 1.0-liter turbocharged version has a capacity of 118 horsepower, combined with a 6-speed manual transmission. A 7-speed automatic transmission will be equipped on the 1.0 turbocharged version in the near future. In addition, users can also choose a 1.6-liter diesel engine, 109 horsepower. |
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Stonic is equipped with many electronic safety technologies such as head-up display, torque control to keep the car balanced, corner braking control, collision warning, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring... The car has a standard 7-inch touch screen, with navigation map options and many new applications. |
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Inside, buyers have a choice of interior colors like orange, bronze, gray or green. The Stonic is Kia's breakthrough in an increasingly crowded market. |
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"This segment is growing rapidly in Europe, reaching 1 million sales last year and is expected to reach 2 million by 2020. By 2020, 10% of sales will be B-segment SUVs. Kia is not strong in this market at the moment, and we are launching the Stonic in a market that is taking off, it is an important model for us in the European market," said Kia's marketing director, Artur Mertens. |
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Despite sharing the same platform as the Rio, surprisingly, this compact crossover is 43mm taller than the Rio thanks to its 17-inch wheels. The trunk is a whopping 352 liters, which is quite impressive for the segment. |
According to Zing