Kia Car Leasing

Why Lease A Kia

Founded back in 1944, Kia has proved to be one of the automotive success stories of the last couple of decades. This South Korean maker has gone from being a budget brand to being a far more aspirational volume marque.

The company’s smallest cars are the Picanto city-sized model and the Rio supermini, both of which have been recently updated and embellished with the brand’s latest mild hybrid tech. Similar in size to the Rio is the company’s stylish Stonic model, a small SUV which is mainly based around the marque’s 1.0 T-GDi petrol turbo engine but which can also be had in 1.6 CRDi diesel form.

Next up is the Ceed family hatch which is available in a variety of different forms. There’s a standard 5 door hatch, a Sportswagon estate and a stylised ‘Proceed’ sports estate. The most important Ceed variant though, is the XCeed compact crossover, which (like the Sportswagon) is also available in PHEV plug-in hybrid form.

If you’re interested in the idea of a hybrid, you’ll also be interested in Kia’s compact family crossover, the Niro, which is available in three guises: self-charging hybrid form, plug-in hybrid PHEV form and full-electric e-Niro guise. Those sold on the idea of electrification might also be interested in the Soul EV, a battery-powered crossover EV model with stylish, futuristic looks. Both the e-Niro and the Soul EV share the same BEV drivetrain and can go for around 280 miles on a single charge from the high-capacity 64kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack.

If you’re thinking of something more conventional and like the thought of a mid-sized family SUV, then the Kia model you might be most familiar with is the Sportage, which has recently been improved with a mild hybrid version of its 1.6 CRDi diesel engine. The biggest SUV that Kia makes is the Sorento 7 seater, the fourth-generation version of which is now on sale and can feature plug-in hybrid technology.

The Kia model that might most surprise you is the Stinger, a ‘Gran Turismo’-style five-door executive model that can be had with a 2.0-litre petrol turbo engine, 2.2-litre CRDi diesel or a storming 3.3-litre twin turbo V6 with 365bhp. Here, 62mph flashes by in 4.7s en route to 168mph and this model’s responses were tuned at the Nurburgring Nordschleife racetrack. If you never thought you’d hear a Kia described like that, then you’ll get the idea: this brand really does now have the ‘power to surprise’.