Kia has taken wraps off the all-new K900 (or K9 as it is called in its home country) at a special event in Korea. The new flagship sedan will make its debut at the 2018 New York International Auto Show next week.
The new Kia K900 follows a new design language and grows bigger in size over the outgoing car. Sharing the same platform as Genesis G90, the new K900 has a 60mm longer wheelbase and shorter overhangs both fore and aft. The most prominent feature is the new grille integrating 176 individual jewel-like cells which move further away from each other as you move away from the centre. Kia calls it “Quadric pattern”. The headlights and taillights now have twin-layer of LED lighting signature called the Duplex Comet. There are ample chrome trims all around the car as well. Overall, the new K900 looks stately and upmarket too.
On the inside, the cabin follows the same upmarket theme with a fewer number of buttons than before and use of quality materials. The steering wheel is new and modern and the instrument cluster is an all-digital screen as is the trend these days. The infotainment screen is a 12.3-inch floating unit while the buttons get proximity sensors. There are wooden trims present in the cabin to complement the leather upholstery and make the sedan more luxurious. Buyers will get 64 options in ambient lighting and a choice of red, beige, black, and brown leather upholstery.
Under the hood is the same powertrain from the Genesis G90. So there is a 3.3-litre or a 3.8-litre V6 producing 311bhp and 365bhp respectively. The top-spec gets a 5.0-litre V8 pumping out 420bhp. The eight-speed automatic transmission is standard and the V6 engine can be had with a four-wheel-drive layout.
The K900 was Kia’s first major plunge into the Luxo-barge segment. It never was able to set the sales on fire as it was targeted at the established players like the BMW 5 Series, Cadillac CTS and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Currently, the car is sold in international markets like South Korea (as the Kia K9), the Middle East, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Russia (as the Kia Quoris), United States, and Canada. The new Kia K900 will be manufactured in Korea and will go on sale across selected global markets in the second quarter of 2018.
