CARS OF THE WORLD

Kia K8 2024.

Sales of the prestigious Kia K8 sedan begin in Kazakhstan.

In the neighboring country, a large four-door is offered with a single naturally aspirated V6 engine and front-wheel drive.

In the homeland of the brand, the range is wider; in addition, there the model has an all-wheel drive version.

The Kia K8 sedan debuted in Korea in 2021, replacing the model that was known as the K7 in its home market and was known as the Cadenza in other countries.

Today, the V8 is the most prestigious passenger car of the Korean brand — only cooler than the Kia K9 on a rear-wheel drive platform.

The Kia K8 is sold not only in the homeland of the brand, but also in the countries of the Middle East, and last year the sedan reached Uzbekistan.

And now the company has again expanded the geographical presence of the model: the four-door launched in Kazakhstan.

The length of the “eight” is 5015 mm, width – 1875 mm, height – 1465 mm, wheelbase – 2895 mm.

The sedan has narrow headlights, a body-colored radiator grille, LED running lights hidden in the front bumper and rear lights made in the form of a single die.

In the cabin there is a curved display and a touch-sensitive climate control unit, complemented by washers.

In Kazakhstan, the Kia K8 is offered with a single engine — a petrol aspirated V6 3.5 GDI, which produces 300 hp. and is combined with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Front-wheel drive only. Note that in Korea, the model can still be purchased with a junior 2.5 GDI engine (198 hp) and a gas V6 3.5 LPI (240 hp), plus an HEV hybrid with an installation based on the 1.6 T-GDI petrol turbo-four is available there.

In addition, in the home market, the V8 with a 300-horsepower engine comes with all-wheel drive.

The Kazakh sedan has two trim levels – Prestige and Premium.

The list of equipment of the basic Kia K8 includes: 19-inch wheels, LED optics, leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, the same scoreboard (tidy and multimedia screens are 12.3 inches diagonal each), climate control, wireless smartphone charger, all-round camera, cruise control, auto braking, blind spot monitoring and lane keeping.

The Premium version also includes Nappa leather, heated and ventilated rear seats (plus a center armrest with a multimedia control panel), a panoramic sunroof, a separate “climate” for the second row, adaptive cruise and a head-up display.

The price of the Kia K8 Prestige is 21,990,000 tenge, which is equivalent to approximately 4,324,000 rubles at the current exchange rate.

The Premium version will cost 24,990,000 tenge (about 4,913,000 rubles).

In Russia, it was possible to buy a K8 sedan before — of course, we are talking about “parallel” cars. Now there will probably be more offers on the market.