Kia Stonic GT-Line to crown baby SUV range in Australia

Kia Australia has confirmed its all-new Kia Stonic will be crowned by a sporty GT-Line model when the compact crossover launches in December.

The updated GT-Line emerged in Europe overnight and features a host of sporting cosmetic enhancements, including an aggressive front grille and bumper treatment that incorporates silver highlights, large lower air intakes, unique skid plate and LEDs for the headlights, daytime running lights and fog lights.

Completing the look are unique 17-inch alloy wheels, rear spoiler with integrated high-mounted brake light, ‘GT-Line’ branding on the tailgate and more silver highlights on the lower rear bumper and up top on the roof rails.

The Australian Stonic range, including the GT-Line, will mimic that of Kia Rio in both powertrain and model grades.

The Stonic GT-Line gets the more potent 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine (74kW/172Nm) paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Kia Stonic S and Stonic Sport will also be available, relying on the 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine (74kW/133Nm) hooked up with a six-speed auto - and the choice of a manual on the S model.

A mild-hybrid version of the 1.0-litre turbo-triple is also available overseas, punching out 200Nm of torque when combined with the seven-speed DCT, but Kia Australia has ruled out this powertrain.

The Kia Stonic will rival vehicles such as the Mazda CX-3, Honda HR-V, Volkswagen T-Cross and the upcoming Toyota Corolla Cross.

As carsales has reported, the arrival of the Kia Stonic should provide the South Korean brand with a strong finish to the year as it closes in on rivals such as Ford and Mitsubishi, eyeing a top-four position in the marketplace behind Toyota, Mazda and compatriot Hyundai.

Positioned below the Kia Seltos small SUV, the light-sized Stonic is certain to start below $25,000 and will attract plenty of attention with key selling points across various fronts, not least of which is Kia’s seven-year factory warranty.

Based on the same platform as the Rio light car, the Stonic was launched in Europe in 2017 and was facelifted a couple of months ago, adding more safety equipment such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and avoidance, to name a few.

The Stonic’s interior was also upgraded with a new infotainment system and larger 8.0-inch touch-screen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay built in. A 4.2-inch digital display was also added to the instrument panel.

The new Kia Stonic was originally set for an October launch in Australia, but issues around the COVID-19 pandemic have seen its introduction pushed back by a couple of months.

Asked if it would still arrive in Australia before year’s end, Kia Australia’s product planning chief Roland Rivero said: “We’d like to think so, we’d hope so. But COVID is quite an unpredictable beast and what it could do is also delay Stonic by a month. We’d like to aim for the end of this year.

“Traditionally you’d say that launching a car in December is not ideal. But maybe in the COVID environment launching a car in December is a good idea?”

Rivero said there is a possibility the launch could spill over into 2021, possibly coinciding with the Kia-sponsored Australian Open tennis tournament which is still going ahead, with appropriate restrictions in place.

“The target is still the tail end of 2020,” he said.

Stay tuned for Kia Stonic pricing and specifications in the weeks ahead.