Kia yesterday unveiled its new K4 at the New York Auto Show, revealing the sedan that replaces the Forte in the Korean automaker's lineup. But at the reveal, it showed images of a hatchback version as well. The automaker has now confirmed, to the pleasure of wagon lovers, that it will launch the K4 wagon in North America.
See: New York 2024: 2025 Kia K4 Compact Sedan Revealed
Kia itself refers to the variant as a hatchback model, but we can see that the rear section extends significantly, hence the small wagon classification as far as we're concerned.
This will undoubtedly enable the K4 to better compete with rivals that are offered in hatchback configuration, notably the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Mazda 3.
The front end styling is the same in this version as in the K4 sedan just introduced; in back, the lighting is similar to that of the sedan, with those LED light strips that span almost the width of the vehicle. The relatively upright shape of the tailgate should translate into healthy cargo volume.
We don’t know yet whether this five-door version will be offered with the new K4’s two powertrains, a naturally aspirated 2.0L 4-cylinder and a turbocharged 1.6L 4-cylinder offering 147 and 190 hp, respectively.
It will be interesting to see what name the wagon is given. Kia has in the past added the number 5 to its hatchbacks, but K4 5 sounds a bit odd.
The model is expected to arrive in North America in the second half of 2024.