Kia is looking to create some excitement at next week’s Chicago Auto Show, debuting a new concept car called the Track’ster.

Based on the brand’s popular Soul crossover, the hopped-up Track’ster will be the “ultimate performance” Soul and feature sleek new body that does away with two doors for an aggressive coupe look.

There are no details on the engine, but look for something exciting, along the lines of the turbocharged 1.6-liter 4-cylinder found in the new Veloster Turbo, which makes 201 hp.

Look for dull details from the big reveal next week and until then, check out AutoGuide’s Chicago Auto Show preview here.

Similar to the Ford Fiesta, Europeans will be able to enjoy the cooler and more fun 3-door Kia Rio while Americans are stuck with the less-cool 5-door and downright dull sedan variants.

The Kia Rio 3-door has gone on sale in Europe, starting at £9,995 or around $15,715 based on recent conversation rates. The 3-door model will feature the same engine and model line-up as the five door, and is the first time the 3-door Rio has ever been for sale.

Four engine choices are available for the Rio 3-door, two standard gasoline models and a pair of diesel powerplants. A 1.1L CRDi engine offers a scant 74-hp and 125 lb-ft of torque with a fuel economy of around 74.3-mpg. The 1.4L CRDi is a four-cylinder engine with 89-hp and 162 lb-ft of torque and has an estimated fuel economy of 70.6-mpg combined. The two new gasoline engines for the Rio 3-door include a 1.25L Kappa engine with 83-hp and 89 lb-ft of torque. The last available engine is a 1.4L Gamma engine with 107-hp and 101 lb-ft of torque. By comparison, the US-Spec Rio gets a 138 hp 1.6-liter.

The four trim models available are similar to the five-door variant- “1″, “1 Air”, “2″, and “3″. 1 Air adds air conditioning to the vehicle while the 2 offers 16-inch wheels, front fog lights and a chrome radiator grille surround. The interior on the 2 gets upgraded black cloth upholstery, cooling glovebox, electrically adjustable heated and folding door mirrors with side repeaters, leather trim on the steering wheel and gearshift and center console armrest.

Lastly, the top of the level 3 has 17-inch wheels, LED daytime running and rear lights, 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.

Standard with all 3-door Rios is a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

GALLERY: Kia Rio 3-Door

Kia Motors America’s motorsports program hit a new high last year grabbing the Team and Driver titles in the 2011 Street Tuner (ST) class in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Now they’re looking forward to 2012 with new driver pairings for both the number-10 and number-12 Infinity Audio Forte Koups.

The first race of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Championship season will be on January 27, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway and Kia will have Andy Lally and Nic Jönsson to lead the way. Lally returns to the Kia Racing program fresh off his 2011 Sonoco Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year performance, reuniting with ST Driver Champion Jönsson. Both drivers were last seen capturing Kia’s first-ever Grand-Am podium at Daytona in January 2011 before Lally went off to NASCAR.

Both drivers are extremely excited and looking forward to the start of the new season and defending the Driver and Team championships for Kia Racing.

In terms of prime time viewing, it often doesn’t get any better than during the Super Bowl. As a result companies want to make every second of air time count during the commercial breaks, often leading to some of the most inventive ads of all time.

This year, Kia Motors is pulling out all the stops, thanks to a commercial which Michale Sprague, head of Kia’s US marketing and communications calls “the ultimate man’s dream.” It’s all part of a plan for Kia to boost its image into a more upscale, edgier brand.

Essentially, the ad incorporates a Kia Optima tearing around a race track,  while scantily clad  supermodel Adriana Lima and mixed-martial arts fighter Chuck Liddell do what they do best, as Mötley Crüe rock on stage, performing Kickstart My Heart.

The 60-second commercial will first be seen in movie theaters beginning on February 3, while 15-second teaser ads will also air beforehand. In an attempt to maximize the ad’s potential Kia will also leverage both the Twitter and Facebook followings of the stars featured in the commercial.

[Source: USA Today]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that investigations of the Honda Accord Hybrid and the Kia Sorento have both ended.

The NHTSA first looked into Accord Hybrid models after initial investigations linked unintended acceleration to a fatal accident. After a thorough investigation, the agency found no evidence of defect within the Accord Hybrid. No safety recall has been issued for the Accord Hybrid.

A total of 18 complaints have been reported, relating to fuel spilling from the filler port of Kia Sorento models from 2003-2004. The Sorento’s fuel evaporation system has a canister filter that may clog over time. Excess pressure could build due to the clog and may cause gasoline to spill out of the filler neck. A total of 86,000 Soreno units will be repaired and Kia agreed to provide a one-time replacement of the canister filter, at no cost to the owner.

2011 marked another year of success for South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia. Having capitalized on its Japanese rivals’ year of challenges, sales for Hyundai and Kia have climbed like a rocket.

Final global sales numbers for 2011 are 4.05 million and 2.54 million for Hyundai and Kia respectively. Boasting an increase in overseas sales by 14 percent, Hyundai sold 610,000 units in India and 730,000 in China. Kia’s overseas sales increased by 24 percent.

Determined to keep the momentum going, the South Korean automakers plan to increase global sales by another 6.1 percent this year for a combined sales amount of 7 million vehicles. While it is a conservative amount compared to the growth of the last two years, Hyundai will be taking 2012 as a year to thoroughly improve the quality  of its vehicles and to invest more in research and development. Clearly learning from Toyota‘s misstep, Hyundai hopes that its concentration on quality control as well as on other areas that might have been overlooked during the company’s rapid growth can help to avoid enormous recalls that would damage the company in the future.

[Source: Bloomberg]

With the companies current shift towards inspired design, Kia motors will produce the GT concept which was first shown at the Frankfurt auto show in 2011. The GT’s slick design is clearly aimed at competing with European luxury brands such as Audi.

Kia is saying that the introduction of the GT will not be a one off model but will be followed possibly by a two-door coupe and even a station wagon thus adding a new family of vehicles to the already growing brands ranks. The GT shown at the Frankfurt show was presented with a 390 horsepower turbocharged V6 which seems like part of the ploy to convert a few Audi and BMW owners over to the Korean brand. Kia wants to present the GT as a cheaper alternative to those interested in buying a luxury car at a cheaper than luxury price.

Peter Schreyer, Chief designer for Kia has even hinted that he would like to design a budget sports car for the brand that would compete with the Mazda MX-5. Although the general direction of the company as of late would suggest that this could be a reality, there is nothing concrete to say that it is.

[Source: InsideLine]

Kia has formally introduced Korea’s first electric production vehicle, the Ray EV, with a range of 86-miles and an impressive fast-charging in just 25 minutes. Only 2,500 units will be produced initially, all of which will be used by government agencies.

The Ray EV is a close relative to the Ray CUV, which was a 1.0L gasoline-powered vehicle introduced last month in Korea. The Ray EV is also a global first, sharing a production line with a conventional combustion-engine vehicle.

Powering the front-wheel-drive Ray EV will be a 50 kW electric motor paired to a high-capacity 16.4 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack. The battery pack is safely located under the rear seat and cabin floor and has been engineered for a 10-year life cycle.

The electric motor pumps out 67-hp and an impressive 123 lb-ft of torque while standard recharge time is six hours utilizing a household 220V. As mentioned before, there is a 25-minute fast-charge mode.

Inside, the Ray EV features a unique navigation system that will locate one of the 500 closest recharge stations in Korea. The government currently has plans to increase that number to 3,100 by the end of 2012.

GALLERY: Kia Ray EV

If this is a hint of what the 2013 Kia Forte may look like, the Korean auto manufacturer might have a winner on their hands. Despite only being on the market since 2009, Kia is looking to refresh their Forte by next year, as a 2013 model.

The sketch shows off the supposed new 2013 Forte sedan, clearly getting some inspiration from their fellow Korean counterparts at Hyundai. The front grille is also very Optima-esque. It might be a few more months before we’ll see more on the new Forte, but if this is the direction that Kia is taking with their design, we approve.

[Source: Kia World]

Ward’s Auto released their 10 Best Engines List for 2012 today, and no surprise here but direct-injection and turbocharging – the two big trends for today’s automotive era – are heavily represented.

The Ford Mustang Boss 302′s big 5.0L V8, with natural aspiration and good-old port injection managed to make the list, but pretty much everything else uses direct injection or turbocharging, while Chrysler’s Pentastar V6 took honors despite not having either of the two technologies.. Infiniti’s 3.5L V6 mated to a hybrid electric system was the sole hybrid.

Hit the jump below to see the full list