Kia Lotze Innovation unveiled

Kia Motors Corp. revealed the Lotze Innovation, the facelift version of the mid-sized sedan Lotze, yesterday. The company has set an annual sales target of 140,000 units, 60,000 units for the domestic market and 80,000 units for exports.

The car, which retails for 70 billion won ($68 million) and took 18 months to develop, was designed under the direction of the company`s chief design officer, Peter Schreyer.

The Lotze Innovation is the first car from a local carmaker to be equipped with an ECO driving system that alerts the driver when the car is operating under the most efficient conditions in terms of fuel economy. According to the company, the system allows the car to exceed its official fuel economy by up to 20 percent.

The car is the first mid-sized sedan from a local firm to be fitted with button ignition and smart key systems. The car is equipped with a 2-liter engine that puts out 163 brake horsepower, the highest output among domestic models in the segment, or a 2.4-liter engine that has a maximum output of 179 brake horsepower. Both trim levels have a fuel economy of 11.5 kilometers per liter for vehicles fitted with automatic transmissions while the manual transmission version of the 2-liter trim can travel 12.8 kilometers on a liter of fuel.

The trim level with the smaller engine has a starting price of 17.53 million won ($17,000) and the larger engine model is priced at 27.15 million won.

By Choi He-suk

(cheesuk@heraldm.com)