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2020 Kia Cadenza shows its new face in mid-cycle refresh

When we drove the all-new 2017 Kia Cadenza a few years back, our main takeaway was that "it's fine." There was nothing particularly remarkable about it, but it's a solid sedan. With the facelifted and refreshed 2020 Cadenza just revealed today, Kia looks like it's reaching a bit more, in an attempt to move beyond general goodness. The 2020 Kia Cadenza, teased last week, takes a stab at bold design. A concave V-shaped grille is the main styling element up front, as our eyes constantly drift to that funky chrome every time we examine the car. It looks like Kia was just riffing off the old grille, and decided to make it bigger while adding in a crease. Those headlights are new, too. They're much narrower and smaller than the old units, and we think they help the face of the new car tremendously. Kia attacked the rear of the Cadenza in a similar fashion. The taillights now stretch across the entire rear of the sedan, connected by an interesting dashed line coming in from both sides and meeting in the middle. It's just another example of Hyundai/Kia designing taillights with a sense of style. We're reminded of the new Hyundai Sonata that went in a bold new path itself at the NY Auto Show. Changes to the interior are relatively significant for just a mid-cycle refresh. There's a new, widescreen 12.3-inch touchscreen that forced a new air vent layout. Along with the rethought center stack, the center console gets changed up with a new gear shift lever and button/storage layout below that. It all comes off as a much more premium design than before. Adding further to that motif is a digital gauge cluster seen on this model. The Cadenza is supposed to be a luxurious sedan, and Kia is certainly answering the call with added tech on the interior. Unfortunately, we're still in the dark from a powertrain perspective. The Cadenza is currently offered in the U.S. exclusively paired to a 3.3-liter V6 and eight-speed automatic transmission. This reveal today was for the Korean-spec K7, (same as our Cadenza), so U.S. powertrain options remain unspoken. We'll expect details on the U.S. spec car to drop before the end of the year, and for this model to go on sale later in 2019 or sometime in 2020.

2020 Kia Soul EV earns 243-mile EPA range rating

Kia is diving head first into the world of electric cars, and now we know how far its new Soul EV can go on a full charge: 243 miles, according to its EPA rating. This officially makes it the longest-range EV in Kia's lineup, because the Niro EV is rated for 239 miles. The Hyundai Kona bests them all with a 258-mile range, though. We got to see the Soul EV at the Los Angeles Auto Show last year for the first time, but could only guess at the range then. It was expected to see huge gains compared to the first electric Soul, which is rated at 111 miles in its last year of duty here in 2019. Range similar to the Niro and Kona is no surprise, as it borrows the powertrain out of those cars. A 64 kWh battery pack provides juice for an electric motor producing 201 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque. DC fast charging is standard and you can adjust the brake regeneration power via paddles behind the steering wheel. Anyone looking at an EV from Kia or Hyundai is going to have to make a choice when it comes to bodystyle, because they won't lose or gain much on the powertrain and efficiency side of things. A 243-mile range is more than sufficient to compete in the electric vehicle world right now, especially if you can get that range on the quirky but lovable Soul. The Bolt EV is sitting at 238 miles of range, and the new Nissan Leaf E+ can go 226 miles before fully depleting its battery. You'll be able to choose between the normal Soul EV or the Soul EV Designer Collection at launch. The Designer trim gets a two-tone paint scheme along with other additions like a leatherette interior, 10-speaker audio system and wireless charging. Pricing isn't available yet, but will be announced closer to the on-sale date. Kia says to expect it in the first half of this year. Related Video:

Kia negotiating to build $1.5B auto plant in Mexico

After a string of recent announcements from automakers, Kia may be the next business to break ground on a factory south of the border. The Korean company is reportedly nearly finished with negotiations to build a $1.5-billion plant near the city of Monterrey in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. The state's secretary of economic development confirmed the news to Reuters and anticipated talks to be completed in the first two weeks of August. Unnamed insiders also said that the location was aiming for an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.
Rumors from a month ago first suggested the possibility of the new factory. It would reportedly build two models of small cars, and assembly could potentially begin as soon as 21 months after breaking ground. Currently, Kia only has one North American plant, in Georgia, that builds the Sorento and Optima.
In the last few years, Mexico has become of hotbed of North American automobile production. Mazda, Honda and Volkswagen all recently opened new or expanded factories to build cars there. There are even more on the way with a joint venture plant from Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti and BMW's announcement of its own $1 billion undertaking in Mexico.