Kia reveals new 2007 Opirus flagship model

• Longer, sleeker, lighter four-door luxury sedan with improved performance
• More powerful and more fuel-efficient larger capacity V6 engine
• New suspension, strengthened bodyshell and enhanced safety
• Host of new features and wider choice of interior and exterior colours

Kia Motors Europe Headquarters, Eschborn, Germany - 3 August 2006

Kia Motors Corporation has issued the first details of its new flagship model, the luxurious 2007 Opirus, which will make its European premiere at the Mondial de L´Automobile in Paris, France, on 28 September 2006.

Longer, sleeker and lighter, the five-metre long four-door luxury sedan has a more balanced appearance, an enhanced interior with new high-tech features, and a larger, more powerful and more fuel-efficient V6 gasoline engine. Significant improvements have been made to the ride, handling, safety and refinement, while Opirus now weighs less and delivers higher per-formance. Kia´s new E-segment model will be available in left-hand drive only, with a wider choice of interior and exterior colours.

"Our new 2007 Opirus has been significantly upgraded in so many ways that it is virtually an all-new model," enthused Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President Kia Motors Europe. "In its new form, Opirus is a fine flagship for the genuine high build quality that Kia is now achieving across its entire model range. It looks more sophisticated, goes faster, consumes less fuel, rides more smoothly, handles more precisely, is packed with new features and is a wonderfully comfortable way to travel.

"Last year, sales of E-segment gasoline models in the top four European markets slipped by almost 16% and that trend is continuing in 2006. However, Opirus sales this year are up by 21% and I´m sure they will accelerate strongly next year when the 2007 model arrives in Kia showrooms. Kia´s new luxury sedan is a truly high quality product, offering the highest lev-els of comfort, refinement and silence," added SVP Lievens.

Longer, sleeker sedan with ´balanced´ appearance
Kia designers have given the 2007 Opirus a more modern, more balanced look by lowering the leading edge of the bonnet, fitting a wider and smoother radiator grille, raising the trunk lid and extending the rear overhang by 20 mm. They also fitted revised dual headlamps, to-gether with new vertical tail lamps (which do not encroach on the trunk lid or rear wing pan-els), and dual chrome exhaust pipes. Larger diameter, 17-inch, multi-spoke alloy wheels plus much wider front and rear tracks fill the wheel arches more completely.

Top quality interior packed with new features
Inside, the 2007 Opirus has an all-new dashboard, instrument panel, dial cluster, centre stack, floor console, integrated audio system and heating and ventilation controls. New features include heated and cooled front seats, power-adjustable pedals, four-way lumbar support for the driver´s seat and a clearer trip computer display. For the 2007 model, Opirus buyers will be offered a choice of three interior colours - two-tone Beige or Gray and one-tone Black, with contrasting accents in wood grain or aluminium.

To strengthen the refined appearance of the 2007 Opirus, five new, more sophisticated col-ours are added to the original range of three exterior paint finishes. Bright Silver, Light Metal, Pewter Beige, Midnight Gray and Dark Red Wine join White Pearl, Ebony Black and Cobalt Blue to offer buyers a choice of eight colours.

More powerful, more efficient, all-aluminium V6 engine
To make the 2007 Opirus even more competitive in its market sector, Kia has fitted a new 3.8-litre V6 Lamda engine, in place of the previous 3.5-litre unit. This all-aluminium engine generates 266 ps (196 kW) up 66% at 6,000 rpm and 353 Nm (36.0 kg.m) up 18% at 4,500 rpm. The new engine powers the 122 kg lighter Opirus to 100 kph in 7.5 seconds (down from 9.2 sec) and propels the car to a top speed of 230 kph.

The five-speed automatic transmission is carried over, offering fully automatic operation or sequential manual gear selection. The new engine is more fuel-efficient and gasoline con-sumption on the combined cycle is reduced by 4.4% to 10.9 litres per 100 km. The fuel tank holds 70 litres of gasoline, while the trunk has an increased capacity of 450 litres.

Re-engineered bodyshell and suspension
Kia´s top-of-the-range model has benefited from an extensive re-engineering programme under the skin, so the new car´s upgrade is much more than a simple ´make-over´ - with sig-nificant improvements to the bodyshell structure and suspension systems.

Occupant safety is enhanced by a revised bodyshell which features reinforcements to the lower front bulkhead, cross-members in the cabin floor, the door sills and B-pillars. Added protection against side-impacts is provided by new, larger side air-bags in the front seats which also shield the pelvis area as well as the torso and thorax.

The front-wheel drive 2007 Opirus´ improved handling is the result of new suspension front and rear, together with a wider track (up 15 mm, front and 30 mm, rear) and wider 235/55 R17 tyres. The sub-frame mounted double wishbone front suspension layout is carried over, but the L-shaped lower arm is reversed and has a broader base, the steering rack is lowered (reducing vibrations) and the castor angle is increased.

At the rear, the transverse sub-frame now supports separately mounted shock absorbers and coil springs, while the upper links are now designed to be ´in-wheel´ - Kia´s compact system that positions part of the suspension inside the road wheel, for minimum intrusion into trunk space. The new suspension systems weigh 34 kg less than the previous set-up.

The 2007 Opirus has lost none of its luxurious ride quality. The electronically controlled suspension system (ECS) of the original Opirus is carried over with refinements to its soft-ware. A fast-reacting computer monitors vehicle speed and road surface irregularities, adjust-ing individual shock absorber stiffness to reduce body roll when cornering, and to counter front-end dive under braking and rear-end squat during hard acceleration.

Best-selling luxury car
Already on sale in Kia´s domestic Korean market, where it has been the best-selling luxury car for the past two months, the new 2007 Kia Opirus will reach European Kia dealer show-rooms during January 2007.

Kia Motors Corporation is confident that 2007 Opirus will be even more competitive in its market segments around the world and is anticipating a strong growth in demand, with a dou-bling of global sales of this model by 2010 to more than 100,000 units annually.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

Kia Opirus 2007

Body & Chassis
Left-hand drive, five-seater, four-door luxury sedan, with all-steel unitary body-chassis construction. Transversely mounted all-aluminium V6 gasoline engine driving the front wheels via a five-speed automatic transmission. Single equipment and trim level, plus broad choice of interior and exterior colours and wide range of options.

Engine
3.8 Lamda V6 (gasoline)

August 2006

Editors Notes

Kia Opirus
The Kia Opirus luxury sedan was first introduced in 2003 and has sold more than 145,000 units globally since launch. Its major market is North America where a total of 51,320 vehicles had been delivered up to the end of June 2006.

Kia Motors Europe
Kia Motors Europe is the European sales, marketing, and service arm of Kia Motors Corporation. With its headquarters in Eschborn, Germany, it covers 29 markets in Europe.

About Kia Motors Corporation
Kia Motors Corporation (www.kiamotors.com) was founded in 1944 and is Korea´s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world´s premier automotive brands.

Kia´s 16 manufacturing and assembly operations in 12 countries produce more than 1.1 million vehicles a year that are sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 155 countries. Kia today has 32,000 employees and annual revenues of US$14 billion.

Kia´s 16 manufacturing and assembly operations in 12 countries produce more than 1.1 million vehicles a year that are sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 155 countries. Kia today has 32,000 employees and annual revenues of US$14 billion.

Kia is the major sponsor of the Australian Tennis Open and an official worldwide sponsor of the Davis Cup. Kia Motors Corporation´s brand slogan - ´The Power to Surprise´ - represents the company´s global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.

Press Contact

Mr Jean-Charles Lievens
Tel 0049 6196 5092 102

Kia Motors Europe GmbH
Hauptstrasse 185, 65760 Eschborn, Germany.
Tel 0049 6196 5092 132 / Fax 0049 6196 5092 100