Kia to launch a coupé by 2011

Kia is planning to launch a sporty front-wheel-drive coupé within the next two years, according to a senior Korean source.

The Korean firm plans to have a car in every major sector within the next five years. One of those cars will be a sports coupé, which would be based on the Cee’d platform and is currently in the early stages of development.

“At the moment we’re concentrating on further establishing the brand as a serious player in the UK but we’ve got ambitious plans for the future.”

The new coupé is likely to be displayed at a major motorshow within the next 18 months, possibly at Paris next autumn or at Detroit in early 2011.

The Kia Kee Concept from 2007 hints at a possible design direction the production coupé may take. The car has been designed by Kia’s European design chief, Peter Schreyer, and it is said to have met with approval from top Korean executives.

Sister firm Hyundai has confirmed its intentions to put the Veloster concept — a front-wheel-drive coupé based on the i30 — into production within the next two years. The Kia coupé would be priced between £15,000 and £20,000 as a direct rival to the Veloster and to undercut the Peugeot RCZ and Audi TT.