[Kia Niro News]

Crossovers are getting increasingly popular and Kia wants in on the action with their new subcompact crossover.

Spy photographers caught a camouflaged prototype on film while it was undergoing hot weather testing and it seems to be sporting a stubby tail and long hood. Another feature that stands out are those floating LED eyebrows above the headlights.

We really don’t know much about this new crossover but it could share a platform with Kia’s new Niro hybrid hatchback or maybe even one of the brand’s most popular model, the Kia Soul.

If Kia wants to sell a large number of their new crossover, it would make sense to base it off a platform that has good driving dynamics, is affordable and has good fuel economy. Last year, Kia managed to sell 147,133 Souls in the U.S. alone which makes it their best Soul year yet. Something from the Soul must appeal to us and it’ll behoove Kia to replicate this in their new crossover.

As for the powertrain, maybe Kia will give us a choice between the standard engine and a sportier one. Car And Driver speculates that the Soul’s 164-hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine could make an appearance in the base model with a 200-ish-hp turbocharged 1.6-liter four engine in the sportier variant. Either way, front-wheel drive should come as standard with an optional all-wheel drive and we’ll most likely see it paired with an automatic drivetrain.

Since the prototype has already been spotted, maybe we’ll see it in all its uncovered glory next year as a 2018 model. Once the crossover goes on sale, it'll be competing against the Mazda CX-3, Honda HR-V,Chevy’s Trax, and Toyota's new C-HR.

 

[Broncos]

That doesn't look too bad actually. I think the turbo 4 pot 1.6L could work well with it. How much torque does that come with though ?

 

[Alex]

This could do some damage to the segment since Kia sort of has luxury going on even with lower end models like this, offering a mix of the regular stuff and some higher end features gets people to buy.

 

[Broncos]

Once they price it right, I'm sure it'll do well. Especially with their name holding quite a bit of loyalty with consumers opposed to how it was long ago

 

[Alex]

Pricing and features, really in the end it comes to value. As long as they keep that up there won't be a problem. it's when companies start off like they do offering a ton of value and start to get greedy that sales start to drop off. Seems like Kia knows what they're doing.

 

[Broncos]

Lets just hope they can up-keep that. Like you said, when they start to get greedy it could throw things off.

 

[Alex]

if that happens they still have an advantage in the market with pricing, everyone has a price and when you make it cheap enough and attainable enough, people that just want to get around will buy in.

 

[Broncos]

Pricing really is all that matters, that's true. I find now a days a lot of people are purchasing pretty much anything once the price is right. A lot of people don't really care for all that fancy stuff, at least where I'm located. It's two extremes lol.