Kia Previews All-New Niro Hybrid SUV

Here are the first official design sketches of Kia’s all-new hybrid SUV, the Niro

Described as a Hybrid Utility Vehicle (HUV), the Niro marks the development of Kia’s first dedicated eco-car platform.

As the Korean automaker puts it, the new model “will maintain all the practicality and appeal of a compact SUV, while offering greater fuel economy”. Designed from the ground up as a dedicated hybrid vehicle and with a platform “engineered in isolation from existing Kia models”, the Niro will feature next-generation powertrains as well as a “specific set of environmentally-conscious technologies.”

The hybrid system will pair Kia’s 1.6-liter Kappa gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine rated at 105 PS (104 hp) and 147 Nm (108 lb-ft) of torque with a 32 kW (43 hp) electric motor and a 1.56 kWh lithium-polymer battery pack. The hybrid system will work together with a six-speed double-clutch transmission.

Kia targets a CO2 emissions rating of under 90 g/km combined (under the NEDC cycle), which would correspond to roughly 4 l/100 km (58.2 mpg US). Design-wise, the Niro adopts the brand’s latest design language with the typical “tiger-nose” grille, sleek headlights and taillights and a rather low height for an SUV.

The new Kia Niro HUV will debut at the 2016 Chicago Auto Show, with production for international markets scheduled to begin in late 2016 at the Hwasung manufacturing facility in Korea. A plug-in hybrid version may arrive later on.