South Korea’s second largest automaker Kia Motors Corp. unveiled its new compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) Stonic at its Namyang research & development center in Hwasung, Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday.

The company said during a press conference on Tuesday that it began receiving pre-orders for its compact SUV Stonic that is scheduled to hit the domestic market on July 13. Hyundai Motor Group owning the nation’s two biggest carmakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors aims to challenge SSangyong Motor Co.’s Tivoli, the dominant player in the local compact SUV market, with Stonic and Hyundai’s newly-released Kona.

The Stonic with a length of 4,140 millimeters (mm), width of 1,760 mm and height of 1,500 mm features sleeker and less bulky design than Hyundai’s first compact SUV Kona with a size of 4,165 mm in length, 1,800 mm in width and 1,550 mm in height.

The new compact SUV equipped with a 1.6 variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) diesel engine and seven-speed double-clutch transmission (DCT) doesn’t come in four-wheel-drive (4WD) or gasoline engine model.

Price is offered from 18.9 million won ($16,633) to 19.2 million won depending on trim choices, cheaper than other rivals including Kona and Ssangyong Tivoli’s diesel models. “Stonic that comes with the lowest price tag in the same diesel SUV category in the local market offers everything from affordability, safety to stylish design,” said Yang Hee-won, head of vehicle structure design division of Kia’s R&D center.

The Stonic has enhanced safety and convenience features. It is fitted as standard with Vehicle Safety Management Plus (VSM+) system that includes Straight Line Stability (SLS), Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) and Hill Assist Control (HAC) system. In addition, it comes with a Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Blind-spot Collision Warning (BCW) system.

The car delivers a maximum of 110 horsepower with 30.6㎏f·m torque, and combined fuel efficiency of 17.0 kilometers (10.6 miles) per liter.

By Woo Je-yoon

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