2014 Kia Optima Sxl Turbo on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Refreshed Kia Optima Hybrid continues to blend good looks and efficiency

With all the excitement at the Kia stand surrounding the new Soul EV, it's easy to forget that there were other cars on display at the Korean marque's Chicago Auto Show display. The Niro Concept from the Frankfurt Motor Show made an appearance, but the other production model on display was the refreshed Optima Hybrid (which was tucked away in a corner).
Like the standard Optima, which was refreshed at the 2013 New York Auto Show last year, the hybridized sedan gets a slightly restyled face and rear end. As we told you in our official post on the car yesterday, the gas-electric powertrain of the 2014 Optima Hybrid still deploys 199 total system horsepower and 235 pound-feet of torque. Buyers of the base LX car will net 36 miles per gallon in the city and 40 on the highway, while the upmarket EX loses a mile per gallon in both environments.
Have a look at our live gallery of the new Optima Hybrid, from the floor of the Chicago Auto Show.

Kia Cadenza preparing new look for 2016

It may have only been on the North American market for a few short years, but the Kia Cadenza is a fairly old warhorse, having hit global markets back in 2010. Considering that, it seems aptly timed for Kia to be testing a redesign of its second largest sedan. Our spies expect the new Cadenza to arrive in 2016 pioneering a new design language for the South Korean brand, which will also be featured on the new Optima. Based on the Kia Sportspace that's making its auto show debut at tomorrow's 2015 Geneva Motor Show, we should expect something more aggressive than the relatively benign sheetmetal of the current Cadenza. That said, it's difficult to pick out the Sportspace-inspired details in the attached spy photos. Kia's designers look to have retained the basic greenhouse shape of the current car, although the styling from the firewall forward and from the C-pillar back is too heavily camouflaged to really pick out anything more than the new headlights, quad foglights, the un-Sportspace-like grille and taillights. Check out our gallery of spy photos, and let us know what you think. Related Video:

Hyundai, Kia announce buyback plan for angry Korean investors

Hyundai's controversial decision last September to move its Korean headquarters to an expansive (and expensive) new facility was met with a swift backlash by shareholders. After making the biggest land purchase in South Korean history, the company's share price took a nine-point nose dive.
Now, in a bid to get back in the good graces of its stockholders, Hyundai and its subsidiary, Kia, will make a $615-million stock buyback plan. Reuters claims this is the first time in ten years that Hyundai has made a buyback offer with the explicit purpose of pumping up share prices.
The total deal bumped up Hyundai's share prices 5.7 percent while Kia is up two percent, although neither company has fully recovered from the battering that followed the headquarters announcement. It's unclear what else it will take for Hyundai to recover the ground it lost during the land deal.