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Kia bringing Habaniro concept to New York Auto Show

Hyundai and Kia have a full docket planned for the New York Auto Show. We know Hyundai's bringing the Venue subcompact crossover for "urban entrepreneurs," Kia will debut a compact crossover originally conceived for the Indian market. and across the luxury aisle, Genesis will pull covers off an electric show car and the U.S.-market G90. Seems Kia has something else besides: Just Auto says Kia's NY debuts will include the Habaniro concept, and Carscoops caught a photo of it in a NY show newsletter. The misspelling of Habanero, from the same company responsible for the Sorento and Mohave, must be intentional and might make family ties to the Kia Niro. Just Auto says the small, squat crossover is about the size of the Niro, yet the zesty Habaniro concept separates itself from the tapioca Niro in numerous ways. The barricade front end dispenses with the brand's tiger nose grille in favor of a stylized brace that connects both fenders above a husky skid plate. A thin LED breaks into several angles across the fascia to break up the expanse of black brace and banded grille. Based on the front end alone, we wouldn't be surprised if the Habaniro ended up in the next " Tron" franchise installment. Whereas the Niro's a four-door, the Habaniro concept believes three doors is enough, the passenger portals on the side featuring flush door handles that span the door shutline. The glasshouse is cut short aft of the doors to make room for a red slash running from roof to wheel well, a graphic that reminds us of the 2013 Peugeot 308 R concept. From there, cue the requisite enormous wheels, clad in beefy all-terrain rubber. Also notice the lack of side mirrors. We can't wait to find out what this is about. Just Auto had one last tidbit on the compact Kia crossover we knew about before. The name Tusker has been mooted as the global moniker, it seems Trazor could also be in the running. The new offering will slot in below the Sportage and Niro, above the Soul.

Kia hires Morpheus from The Matrix for Super Bowl ad

News of the Kia brand's inclusion in this year's onslaught of Super Bowl ads got out in December of last year, but other than the fact that the coming K900 flagship would carry the day, we knew nothing about the spot. Now AdWeek has revealed that it is Morpheus - he of The Matrix and guru for The One - who will guide us into a previously inconceivable reality in which Kia is a luxury car maker.
What we'll get is a 60-second spot produced by David&Goliath agency, following Morpheus (played by the man who made him famous, Laurence Fishburne) as he does the thing he does best: presenting a choice to a couple at a valet stand, allowing them to choose a red key or a blue key and, Kia would certainly want us to believe by the end of an "unforgettable ride," the truth.
It's Kia's fifth straight trip to the Super Bowl so it knows what to expect, but the task Morpheus has this time - to free your mind concerning the K900 - could be a task just as large as defeating all the agents and sentinels seeking Zion.

Autoblog Podcast #344

Doug DeMuro from Plays With Cars, Infiniti Q50, Subaru BRZ STI, Porsche Macan
Episode #344 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth and Executive Editor Chris Paukert are joined by Doug DeMuro, author of Plays With Cars and prolific internet autowriting presence. Topics include the latest spy shots of the Porsche Macan, the 2014 Infiniti Q50, and the teaser images we've recently seen of a Subaru BRZ wearing STI badges. As always, we start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. You can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #344: