With the introduction of the Ray model, Kia wants to take a piece of the city car pie in its homeland. This A-segment “practical and innovative” model will be available starting with the spring of next year in Korea and it will cost somewhere around 7000 pounds.
We don’t know for sure which engines will be available for the Ray, but most likely it will get the 3-cylinder 1.0-liter and 4-cylinder 1.25-liter units from the new Picanto. Due to the more stringent emission targets, Kia will probably launch an electric version of the Ray in 2013 when these new regulations will kick in.
According to the journalists from Autocar, the Ray is not based on the Picanto platform but most likely it will borrow a lot of the hardware in order to lower the production costs as much as possible. On the outside, the car looks quite boxy and comes with the company’s signature chrome-rimmed radiator grille while the headlamps house the LED daytime running lights.
To permit an easy entry inside the car, Kia has fitted the Ray with a rear sliding door on the passenger side while on the driver’s side there’s a regular rear door. Out in the back this city car has vertical bumper reflectors and LED lights.
We don’t have any information about the possibility of this model to reach other markets, but most likely it will probably be sold in China in a few years.
Source: Kia via Autocar
