It is part of our landscape since the beginning of 2000. There Rio she’s a city girl who was presented by Kia to lower his range and offer Sefia’s younger sister. Available at launch as a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon, the Rio received a five-door hatchback silhouette from its second generation in 2005. It is in this form that we know him best today. She now in its fourth generation (2016), which was updated in 2020. The Rio is a global vehicle for Kia, sold in most of its markets. Under very different names (like K2 and Tonic). But Is the career of a Korean citizen under threat in Europe? Recent elements may indicate this…

Goodbye Europe?

As reported by our colleagues from Auto Week (Netherlands), Kia is preparing to remove your city car from the Dutch market. A decision that the group’s European subsidiary (based in Frankfurt) can continue throughout the Old Continent. True, the city car is already in the 7th year of its career, and it is starting to show the weight of years at the technical level. It’s only really offered with a petrol engine, at best a 48V micro-hybrid. There is no hybrid option clean, like, for example, its competitors Renault Clio, Toyota Yaris or Honda Jazz. And nothing is reported about a possible replacement. If it really disappears, Only the Stonic crossover will remain in this B segment. With such a strategy, it’s also hard to see how Kia will be able to sustain even the smaller Picanto… However, the manufacturer was an outsider in this category of mini city cars, where only the Twingo, i10, Ignis, Fiat 500 or Aygo X remained.

Possible postponement for France

This phenomenon of desertification of the lower categories, unfortunately, affects all producers. In addition to the mini city cars mentioned above, this is also a big cleanup in the city car category. Ford is ditching its Fiesta, Mercedes lost interest in Smart for Europe, and Audi kills two birds with one stone by abandoning the A1 city car and the Q2 crossover in the B segment… It must be said that this B segment is not the most important in Europe, where the C segment has the upper hand (Golf, 308, Megane and etc.). However, France is an exception in this regard, the B segment being the most popular among the Gauls. Witness excellent results from Sandero, 208 and Clio in particular. So Kia might consider (like Hyundai and its i20?) delaying the end of the Rio’s reign here. but continue your career does not mean finding a replacement for him…