Kia is making a facelift on the international equivalent of the European Ceed. Kia refines the Forte, a compact middle class that goes through life elsewhere in the world as K3 or Cerato.
Kia’s Ceed family is purely a European affair. That does not mean that the Koreans outside the European borders do not use a C-segmenter. In the United States, for example, the brand has the Forte on the menu, which is now only available as a sedan. The Forte proves that not only brands of the Volkswagen Group have an international model range that is difficult to fathom. For example, the sedan version of the Forte in Australia is called Cerato – a name we also know in Europe – and the model is known as K3 in South Korea. The K3 also exists in China, but has its own muzzle there again. Kia also has a hatchback on the international menu of the Forte. That type is not available in the United States, but is in the showoom in Canada as Forte5. In South Korea it is again on the price list as a K3 GT. Are we still there? Today’s news relates to the Forte Sedan as it is sold in the United States, among others.
Kia Forte Sedan (2018)
The renewed Forte Sedan gets a sharpened front that has changed more than you would initially think. For example, the headlights and grille are still very similar to those of the original presented at the beginning of 2018, but these parts are completely new. The shape of the headlights is slightly different, the same applies to the LED daytime running lights now built up from LED segments. The light signature is in line with that of the electric Kia EV6, which means that the Forte is now the next Kia to receive the revised light signature. The so-called Tigernose grille of the Forte has been more tweaked and now connects to the headlights. Lower on the muzzle, we see a new front bumper with vertical chrome strips on the corners and diagonally placed fog lamps. The back will also be overhauled. Kia gives the sedan a different rear bumper, although the adjusted lighting is perhaps more striking. Here too, everything is made up of LED segments.
Kia also shows an image of the interior of the modified Forte, although little has changed after the arrival of a new infotainment system. The renewed Forte, about which more information will be released later, will of course not be coming to Europe.