The newly refreshed 2016 Kia Cerato has been given an official unveiling in its home market today, less than a week since it was spied in a Korean carpark.
Known there as the K3, the refreshed Cerato will make its Australian debut in the first of 2016.
Today’s unveiling focuses on the sedan body, although we can expect the five-door hatch model to pick up the same styling tweaks.
On the sedan shown here, those changes include long new headlights that reach back across the front quarter, replacing the larger and rounder units of the current model.
There’s also a longer and more upright version of Kia’s ‘tiger-nose’ grille design, and a new front bumper with a long lower grille flanked by fog lights and tall faux intakes at each corner.
Changes at the rear are limited to a darkened tail-lamp lens and new LED internals.
Likewise, the 2016 Cerato’s cabin carries over largely unchanged, with the same centre stack, console and wave-like feature across the passenger end of the dash.
The steering wheel lands a light update, however, with a sporty new flat-bottomed design and – like the now retired Pro_Cee’d GT hatch – gloss black highlights.
Engine options have also carried over for the new model year, which in Australia means 110kW/178Nm 1.8-litre and 129kW/209Nm 2.0-litre petrol engines in the regular range, along with a 150kW/265Nm 1.6-litre unit in the Koup Turbo.
The refreshed Cerato is expected to hit Australia in the mid to late second quarter of 2016, sometime after the local debut of the compact Picanto and the all-new Sportage.
The current has found some steam in the Australian market this year, with sales figures at the end of October sitting at 8671, compared to 5504 for the same period in 2015.
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