Kia Really Thinks It Has a Car That Can Compete With the BMW 3 Series

We wrote recently about the automaker’s plans to launch tuned GT models, and now it looks as if South Korea’s own wants to create a sporty rear-wheel-drive sedan as well. The sedan would take on Germany’s best, such as the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4. According to anonymous sources the plan is to launch the sedan in 2017 with a target of 60,000 units per year. The project is codenamed “CK.”

Kia has seen success in recent years with its quirky Soul but the automaker’s upscale offering, the K900, hasn’t been as fortunate. The company knows this, with one anonymous source telling Retuers: "As Kia has no luxury brand, it is trying to position itself as a sporty brand.” Hyundai owns 34 percent of the company and as such has a big say in what the automaker does. Hyundai’s new Genesis line likely killed off any chance Kia had at making a luxury sub-brand but there still seems to be a bit of space left in the sporty sedan segment. Of course the ultimate question is will people really view a Kia as being equal to a BMW or Audi? Hopefully Albert Biermann, the ex-head of BMW’s M Performance who is now with Kia, can figure that one out.

Regardless, competition is always good and more rear-wheel-drive sport sedans are never a bad thing. Hell, if the production car looks as good as the Novo concept (shown here) and is cheaper than its German rivals then Kia should have a puncher's chance at success.