- The Kia K4 will debut ahead of the 2024 New York International Auto Show.
- Kia’s K4 compact sedan will take the spot of the Forte, bringing the sedan lineup in line with the company’s alphanumeric naming conventions.
- This will follow the pattern set by the Kia K5, which replaced the Kia Optima’s nameplate.
Kia is showing a glimpse of its upcoming compact sedan—the K4. Following the pattern of its revised sedan nameplates, this K4 is expected to take the place of the current Forte compact sedan. While this compact Kia is slated to make a full reveal at the New York International Auto Show later this month, Kia says it’s going to show the machine’s exterior before the show.
Details are expectedly light about the upcoming K4 sedan. However, we can assume it’s not going to be an EV, especially considering it lacks the EV suffix found on products like the Niro and it doesn’t follow the EV6 or EV9 naming convention.
Currently, the Kia Forte fills the compact sedan space for Kia. The Forte starts at $21,145 and is available with a manual transmission. The base powertrain is a 2.0-liter I4 that sends 147 hp and 132 lb-ft of torque through Kia’s Intelligent Variable Transmission. The manual-equipped Kia Forte GT packs a 1.6-liter turbocharged I4 under the hood that makes 201 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque.
It’s hard to say what besides the style is going to change with the K4, but it wouldn’t be out of the question to see some changes under the hood. We’re also expecting a bump in base price, too. We’ll know what it looks like on March 21, and most of its important details during its full reveal on March 27, at the New York auto show.
Do you think Kia should replace the Forte name with the K4? Tell us your thoughts below.
Wesley Wren has spent his entire life around cars, whether it’s dressing up as his father’s 1954 Ford for Halloween as a child, repairing cars in college or collecting frustrating pieces of history—and most things in between. Wesley is the current steward of a 1954 Ford Crestline Victoria, a 1975 Harley-Davidson FXE and a 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie. Oh yeah, and a 2005 Kia Sedona.
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