Dongfeng Yueda Kia is to launch a plug-in car in 2013. The new N30 model will be the first for the low-cost Dianyue brand. Kia Motors’ Chinese JV is also set to start building the K3, the successor to the Forte, from next year.
The new EV for the DYK joint venture should be the first model for Dianyue. The car itself will be a modified version of the obsolete Kia Cerato sedan which Kia and its partner have built in China since 2005. The Dianyue E30, a concept version of this forthcoming plug-in vehicle, premiered at the Beijing motor show in April 2012.
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Kia’s replacement for the Forte (Cerato in some markets) series will also be built at DYK’s Yancheng plant in Jiangsu province, it has been revealed. In China, the existing sedan is badged as the Fu Rui Di, while the Koup is the Shuma. The replacement cars will instead be badged Kia K3 in both China and South Korea. The K3 is due to be launched in South Korea in the third quarter of 2012.
Author: Glenn Brooks
