Talk about big shoes to fill – Kia Australia has launched the new K4 sedan, which replaces the Cerato as the go-to ‘small’ car in the brand’s line-up.
It isn’t all that small, however, being longer, lower and wider than its predecessor, and while the new platform also means there is a longer wheelbase, Australia will have to wait for the practical five-door hatchback to join the K4 ranks later in 2025.
In replacing the Cerato, the K4 has a task on its hands. One in five Kias sold to this point in Australia have worn the Cerato badge, so getting it right for customers – both fleet and private buyers – is vital to the success of the new Mexico-built model.
Dennis Piccoli, Chief Operating Officer at Kia Australia, said the South Korean maker is still aiming to sell plenty of K4s over the coming years, and that fleet will continue to be a vital part of the mix make-up moving forward.
“In terms of variant mix, we think in the private space – which is likely to be around 50-60 percent of the total sales – we think that’s going to skew quite obviously more to GT-Line,” Mr Piccoli said.
“I think the next most popular is going to be Sport, and then fleets will invariably go for an S with Safety Pack, as we see it at this stage …pretty similar [to Cerato].”
“We think it’ll be a slower start on the basis that it’s purely sedan – the sedan market as we all know when we look at VFACTs, is about 35-40 percent of the [small car] market. But then when we come through with the hatch in quarter four [2025], we think that we probably will round out around 9000 cars,” he said.
“It’s a bit of a fine balancing act – we were obviously strong with Cerato, and now we’ve got the NVES legislation that we need to work with, so it’s a fine balancing act between the EVs, the hybrids and ICE product moving forward, and availability of course, too,” he said.
Let’s have a look at the model range:
- Kia K4 S $30,590 plus on-roads / $32,990 drive-away
- Kia K4 S with Safety Pack $32,690 plus on-roads / $34,990 drive-away
- Kia K4 Sport $35,190 plus on-roads / $37,990 drive-away
- Kia K4 Sport+ $37,590 plus on-roads / $40,990 drive-away
- Kia K4 GT-Line $42,990 plus on-roads / $46,990 drive-away
The flagship model is the only one with a turbo-petrol engine – a carryover 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder (142kW/265Nm) but with an eight-speed torque convertor auto, this time around. It’s front-wheel drive, but picks up more sophisticated multilink rear suspension and a model-specific driving tune.
The other versions continue on with the ancient 2.0-litre MPi four-cylinder engine (112kW/192Nm) with a continuously variable transmission or CVT auto, again front-wheel drive.
The base engine uses a claimed 7.4 litres per 100km combined, while the turbo model is thriftier, at 6.7L/100km.
Dean Norbiato, head of marketing for Kia Australia, said the brand knows it has a serious task on its hands for what he calls “a big small car”, but he acknowledged that buyer tastes and behaviours have changed over the last two decades.
“Over 20 percent of all Kias sold in this country wore the Cerato badge. So the K4 has very big shoes to fill,” Mr Norbiato said.
“From a marketing standpoint, there’s a lot of communication that we’re doing with our existing database. Over 200,000 Cerato sales in this country alone, making up more than 20 percent of our overall sales. So we have a specific strategy in communicating to existing Cerato and Rio customers about the change in nameplate.
“But then the advancement in the platform… connected car services for the first time ever in a small sedan,” he said.
“It’s also a growing category – it’s up 10 percent in 2024… which most people would think would be diving, off the back of increasing SUV sales. So there is some buoyancy in the category,” Mr Norbiato said.
New Kia K4 vs Kia Cerato – dimensions:
| Cerato sedan | K4 sedan | |
| Length | 4510mm | 4710mm |
| Wheelbase | 2700mm | 2720mm |
| Width | 1800mm | 1850mm |
| Height | 1445mm | 1425mm |
| Boot space | 502 litres | 508 litres |
| Towing capacity | Up to 1100kg | Up to 1100kg |
