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Kia slices K900 pricing amidst slow sales

Kia is learning the same hard lesson that Volkswagen learned so many years ago – it's not easy for a volume brand to sell a luxury car. The K900 luxury sedan has suffered through slow sales, moving just over 1,300 vehicles last year, and now the South Korean company is trimming the cost of entry to entice consumers. A new K900 Premium lowers the sedan's price by $5,000, from $59,500 to $54,500, not including a $900 destination charge, Motor Authority reports. While the price is lower, previously standard items, such as LED headlights, Nappa leather and a 17-speaker Lexicon stereo have been packaged as part of a new Luxury trim, which will maintain the original starting price. The two-tier scheme will force consumers to make a new decision about their K900, but that won't extend to the brute under the hood. A 5.0-liter V8 remains a standard item, making even the K900 Premium a tempting option for anyone that values straight-line thrust in a comfortable package. What are your thoughts? Is Kia merely rearranging the deck chairs on a sedan-shaped Titanic, or do you think trimming the price will do some good for the slow-selling K900? The new price is already reflected on Kia's consumer website, so head over, mess about and then come back and have your say about the move in Comments.

Kia will launch a fully autonomous car by 2030

Kia promises to have a fully autonomous vehicle on sale by 2030, and the South Korean automaker will provide an early preview at that next-gen tech by launching the Drive Wise sub-brand at the Consumer Electronics Show. The new branding will encompass all of the company's advanced driver assistance systems and innovations in the human-machine interface over the next 15 years. Before Kia's fully driverless vehicle hits the street, the company thinks that partially autonomous Drive Wise technology could be ready by 2020. These early steps are largely what the company has on display at CES. Tech like Highway Autonomous Driving and Urban Autonomous Driving use sensors and GPS to allow a model to control itself. An Emergency Stop System can automatically get the car off the road if there's a problem, and an electronic valet would even allow a vehicle to park without a driver inside. Kia took a major step toward its autonomous future in December 2015 when it received permission from Nevada to test driverless tech on public roads there with a Soul EV (pictured above). The company and Hyundai have also pledged $2 billion in research through 2018 to help bring these advanced systems into production. Kia also folds future in-vehicle tech under the Drive Wise branding, and its I-Cockpit concept shows some of these solutions off at CES. This demonstrator of a next-gen vehicle cabin supports gesture controls and can detect an owner's fingerprint to adapt the interior to the person's preferred music and climate settings. Autonomous tech is one of the hottest parts of the auto industry right now, and a host of companies are ready to challenge Kia's coming innovations. For example, General Motors plans to test a network of driverless vehicles with ridesharing service Lyft, and Ford and Google might form a similar partnership. BMW also could show of a concept with a nearly production-ready solution early in 2016. Kia Motors introduces new 'DRIVE WISE' sub-brand for autonomous driving technologies - Kia 'DRIVE WISE' encompasses future Advanced Driver Assistance Systems - DRIVE WISE intelligent safety technologies exhibited at 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas - U.S.

Feds open investigation into recall of 1.7M Hyundais, Kias

US safety regulators have opened a formal investigation into the recall of nearly 1.7 million vehicles by Hyundai and affiliate Kia over engine defects, according to filings published Saturday. A South Korean whistleblower reported concerns last year to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which will probe the timeliness of three recalls carried out in the United States and whether they covered enough vehicles. Fines could be imposed on the automakers if the NHTSA determines the recalls were not conducted properly. The agency did not immediately comment on the probe. A Hyundai spokesman in Seoul the company "has conducted recalls in compliance with US regulations and procedure" and will "sincerely" cooperate with the investigation. In 2015, Hyundai recalled 470,000 U.S. Sonata sedans, saying engine failure would result in a vehicle stall, increasing the risk of a crash. At that time, affiliate Kia did not recall its vehicles, which share the same "Theta II" engines. Kim Gwang-ho, then an engineer at Hyundai, flew to Washington in August 2016 to tell NHTSA the companies should have recalled more vehicles over the problem, citing an internal report. He also reported several alleged safety lapses to both U.S. and South Korean authorities. On March 31, Hyundai expanded its original U.S. recall to 572,000 Sonata and Santa Fe Sport vehicles with "Theta II" engines, citing the same issue involving manufacturing debris, the NHTSA said. On the same day, Kia also recalled 618,160 Optima, Sorento and Sportage vehicles which use the same engine. The recall, which was also conducted in Canada and South Korea, cost the duo 360 billion won ($322.40 million). "TIMELINESS AND SCOPE" According to the filings published Saturday, the agency opened a probe May 18 into "both the timeliness and scope" of the "Theta II" engine recalls and their "compliance with reporting requirements." In August 2014, Hyundai agreed to pay a $17.35 million fine to settle a NHTSA investigation it delayed the recall of 43,500 Genesis cars to fix a brake defect linked to two injuries. NHTSA said in 2014 Hyundai "must change the way they deal with safety-related defects." Hyundai vowed to make improvements to how it handled safety issues after the fine. In 2015, the company retained former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood as an adviser on safety issues.