The Kia Stonic compact SUV has officially broken cover today in Europe, ahead of its October 2017 market launch there.
The compact crossover's name is a combination of "speedy" and "tonic" and it will be offered in Europe with a seven-year warranty.
But any hopes of the entry-level SUV coming to Australia have been dashed after the local importer confirmed it will wait for the next-generation compact SUV, expected in 2019.
"There are no plans for this model in Australia," Kia Motors Australia's general manager of communications, Kevin Hepworth, told motoring.com.au.
"We'd rather wait until something more suitable for our market arrives," he added, explaining a new compact SUV will arrive in 2019. He said it wasn't clear whether this new vehicle will be called Stonic or not.
Until then, the Kia Sportage medium SUV will remain Kia Australia's most affordable city-savvy SUV, priced from $28,990 in Australia.
The Kia Stonic has been dubbed a compact crossover by Kia Europe and the hook for buyers will be its "eye-catching, confident, SUV inspired" design.
Interior design is likewise modern, with colourful flourishes, a large colour screen as part of the infotainment system that will offer standard Android Auto and Apple CarPlay functionality.
Other convenience features include heated seats, keyless entry and cruise control.
The vehicle is being pitched as an urban explorer and comes with plenty of optional safety tech including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian recognition, rear cross traffic alert for backing out of car parks, blind spot detection, lane departure warning and automatically dipping high beam headlights.
All these elements would seem to make a strong case for the car being offered in Australia, but it's understood that a four-speed automatic and low-power 1.4-litre petrol engine – the most potent offerings – were major turn-offs for the local importer.
There are also 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo engines and a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine, most of them carry-over powertrains from the Kia Rio small car.
Competition in the compact SUV segment in Australia is hotting up, and vehicles like the Mazda CX-3 ($20,000) and Mitsubishi ASX ($25,000) – the sales leaders in the segment – are keenly priced and packaged with more powerful 2.0-litre engines and six-speed auto transmissions.
Despite the lack of six-speed automatic gearboxes like its rivals and underpowered engines, Michael Cole, Kia Motors Europe's chief operating officer, said the Kia Stonic "...will be one of the most compelling new cars in this rapidly-expanding class..."
"As the segment expands, the Stonic looks set to become one of our best-selling cars," he asserted.
Aussies will just have to wait a few more years for the Kia best-seller.