The Kia K4 small car range is set to grow in Australia during the fourth quarter of 2025, and the Korean brand’s local product boss has confirmed it will include the debut of a new, more efficient petrol engine option Down Under.
Speaking with CarExpert at the Australian media launch of the updated Sportage mid-size range, Kia Australia’s general manager for product planning Roland Rivero wouldn’t be drawn on the local prospects for the K4 Hybrid (HEV), which is yet to be revealed, but he did confirm a more efficient drivetrain is coming to the core K4 lineup.
“We’ve got [the] hatchback first – the K4 Hatch. That does adopt a new powertrain which you’re familiar with from the Seltos… which helps us out from a CO2 perspective – that will be our first adjustment in light of NVES [the federal government’s New vehicle Efficiency Standard],” Mr Rivero said.
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The powertrain in question is the Atkinson-cycle 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine mated with what Hyundai and Kia call an ‘IVT’ or Intelligent Variable Transmission. Effectively, it’s Hyundai/Kia-speak for a CVT.
As Mr Rivero mentioned, this drivetrain is already on sale locally in the Seltos small SUV, and also serves in the related Hyundai i30 Sedan and Kona crossover.
Due to its more efficient Atkinson cycle, the new engine makes slightly less grunt than the existing 2.0-litre ‘MPI’ engine (110kW/180Nm versus 112kW/192Nm) but is claimed to be more fuel-efficient, helped in part by the different transmission.
“The CO2 on that is better than even the 1.6 turbo – I think it’s about a 30g/km improvement [over the 2.0L MPI]. Whether we spec it with [idle stop/start] is TBC,” Mr Rivero added.
The current 2.0L MPI engine with a six-speed automatic in the K4 Sedan quotes combined fuel consumption of 7.4L/100km and CO2 emissions of 167g/km, while the more powerful 1.6 T-GDI engine in the GT-Line with its eight-speed auto quotes 6.7L/100km and 158g/km.
For reference, the related Hyundai i30 Sedan with the Smartstream-branded Atkinson-cycle engine and CVT quotes a much thriftier 6.1L/100km and 139g/km of CO2 on the combined cycle.
Mr Rivero said the new drivetrain will be applied to both the upcoming K4 Hatch as well as the existing K4 Sedan during the fourth quarter of 2025, likely coinciding with model year 2026 (MY26) production.
As yet there’s still no word on a K4 Hybrid or HEV variant, which has been all but confirmed for a future introduction. It will almost certainly draw upon the 1.6-litre hybrid system used in the i30 Sedan and Kona hybrids, which makes 104kW and 265Nm.
Since launching earlier this year, the Kia K4 has managed 1892 registrations to the end of May. By comparison, its top-selling predecessor, the Cerato, managed 6323 registrations during the January-May 2024 period. But last month, the new sedan-only K4 outsold the outgoing Cerato hatch and sedan with 577 sales versus just 68, which was nevertheless short of segment leaders including the Toyota Corolla (1576), Hyundai i30 (909) and Mazda 3 (735).
However, the K4 currently lacks an ANCAP safety rating, which is a requirement for many of the large fleet customers that account for a large proportion of small car sales across the industry, so the addition of a more popular hatchback body style and an independent safety rating should give the K4 a significant shot in the arm.
“It’s taken a few months… but now [the K4] is starting to build momentum. Once it gets its ANCAP rating, it will open the door to fleets,” said Dean Norbiato, general manager for marketing at Kia Australia.
“Then we get the hatchback. We are a hatch-biased market, so when that comes at the back end of the year we’re really confident in that product taking over a really important model in the Cerato, and that hatch in particular will definitely meet the demand and appetite of the Australian market as well.”
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