Kia is hunting down buyers of the C3 Picasso, Meriva and Meriva with this new mini-MPV concept car. Although no name has been released yet, the internal codename for the production car is Kia YN.
This concept will translate into production with precious few changes. The YN show car has a glass roof (not quite visible in this first teaser photograph), but strip away the eye-candy wheels and show-stand profligacy and this is ‘99% of the real car’, our sources say.
Kia YN: the engineering story
This B-segment mini-MPV is based on the Soul platform. That means production versions will use that car’s 1.6-litre engines, but also expect downsized units such as Hyundai’s new 1.2.
The wheelbase and track will be slightly different from the Soul’s, and interior flexibility will be emphasised, with sliding rear bench seat and the like. ‘Some people criticised the Soul for not having more of this – but we knew we had the YN coming,’ said our insider.
Cool. When can I buy this Korean Picasso?
In a year’s time. Expect right-hand drive sales in February 2010, after an autumn 2009 debut. We’d estimate prices at around £11,000.
That YN codename is a no-goer for production. Kia’s badging experts are searching for a suitable tag – they were keen on the Quantum badge, until an American car maker owning rights to the name blocked it.
>> Click here for CAR’s guide to all the new cars at the Geneva motor show 2009