Kia releases illustrations of new flagship, rear-wheel drive sedan

Kia Motors has revealed the first official sketches of its all-new flagship sedan, Codenamed KH. It's expected to establish new standards for design flair in the large sedan segment.

Based on the Hyundai Equus platform, the new model is Kia’s first rear-wheel drive sedan and combines innovative design with high-tech features. KH is among the company’s eagerly anticipated new models and will be launched in Kia’s domestic market in the first half of 2012.

Soon-Nam Lee, Kia’s Director of the Overseas Marketing Group, says, “Our all-new flagship sedan integrates all of our key capabilities such as design, performance, high-tech features and infotainment into one striking model.

According to Kia, the KH’s profile was a key focus for the design team. It features a simple side character line to give a feeling of spaciousness while emphasizing the new model’s bold and dynamic image.

The sketches also reveal a bold front-end design inspired by the look of Kia’s recent GT Concept and featuring the automaker’s family-look radiator grille and modern, tapered-back headlamps. Overseeing the design is Kia’s styling chief, Peter Schreyer, the former Audi designer responsible for the lines of the first-generation TT.

Beneath the sheet metal will be the rear-wheel drive platform from the Hyundai Equus luxury sedan, not the smaller Genesis as previously predicted. This means the KH is likely to come with a V-8 engine matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Although launch timings for those overseas markets are undetermined, this all-new rear-wheel drive large sedan will reach North American shores sometime in the near future.

Can the bold design of Kia’s anticipated luxury sedan go toe-to-toe with BMW, Audi, and Mercedes?