A source inside Kia has told motoring.com.au that airborne pollution drifting from China is largely to blame for the total lack of Korean-made convertibles.
He said that although both Kia and its sister brand Hyundai were keen to develop a convertible model, buyers in the duo’s home market were reluctant to purchase convertibles owing to poor air quality.
“Most people in Seoul prefer to drive with the windows up and the air-conditioning selected on recirculate,” the source said. “The pollution from China, which is only about 200km away, is so bad that some days that you wouldn’t want to drive with the roof off.”
When asked if such a model would be feasible as an export-only proposition, our man inside Kia said it was possible but not currently on the agenda.
“As far as I know there are no serious plans at this time,” he continued. “If it was, it would probably be a model like the Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet and not the Mazda MX-5. Volkswagen is very popular in Korea at the moment.”
Our Kia source said there had been a convertible model in the past, and that it was rather popular. That model, the two-seat Kia Elan was sold between 1996 and 1999, and was a re-baged and re-engined version of the front-wheel drive Lotus Elan M100.
More recently, the only glimmer of hope has come from concept and prototype drop-top versions of the Kia Sephia, Rio, Soul and pro_cee’d GT, and the Optima convertible from last year’s SEMA show in Las Vegas (pictured).