New official information on the Kia K9 flagship: the Korean saloon boasting a sleek, modern design, in line with the new stylistic standards of the brand and developed to please both the Asian and the Western markets. The K9 design is elegant, balanced yet simple, with the signature “Tiger Nose” front grille, slim LED headlights, long sweeping sidelines and a well proportioned tail, enriched by twin exhausts.

The premium saloon has an overall length of 5,090 mm, a width of 1,900 mm, a height of 1,490 mm and a generous wheelbase of 3,045 mm. Inside the car appears at the same level of the best German and Japanese competitors: painstaking attention to details, the use of quality materials and refined assemblies. The instrument panel features a large multifunction screen, operated by a control knob and buttons, located at the central of the dashboard. The passenger compartment is equipped with leather upholstery, prestigious trims, a sophisticated entertainment system (17-speaker Lexicon audio system) and air-conditioning.

Continue reading: Kia K9: New Official Shots and Details

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Kia has released a brand new video featuring the K9. This impressive saloon is the first of the Korean brand to be equipped with rear-wheel drive, boasting powerful engines. At launch it will be offered with a 3.8-litre V6 engine or a V8, available in the 4.6 or 5.0-litres variation.

The unique design identifies in the front grille, full LED headlights and twin rear exhaust pipes, the most prominent aesthetic elements. The Kia K9 will also be marketed outside Korea and will be possibly adopt a new name, following the example of the K5 and K7, which have been renamed Optima and Cadenza. One of the reasons for a name-change might be that the acronym K9 reminds of Doctor Who’s robotic canines!

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The brand new flagship K9 is the last Kia saloon car to be added to the K family. The letter K, shared by the words Kia and Korea, identifies the concepts of Kratos (power, dominion and kingdom) and Kinetic (dynamism, vitality) in the Greek and English vocabularies. The Kia K9 will be introduced later this year on the Korean market and it is the first car by this brand equipped with rear-wheel drive. At launch it will be offered with either a 3.8 V6, a 4.6 V8, or a 5.0 V8, which summarise the ambitions and aims of a refined and well-kept saloon.

Aesthetically speaking, the K9 is recognisable by the stylish tiger nose front grill, the full-LED headlights and the twin rear exhaust, plus a few more pretentious details like the chrome insert wrapping the side glazing and the (Maserati style?) double socket above the front wheel. The flagship Kia will also be exported outside Korea with a different name, following the example of the K5 and K7 converted into Optima and Cadenza.

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The heavily disguised mule featured in these spy shots from Northern Sweden is the new Kia K9, a new sedan based on the same rear wheel drive platform of the Hyundai Genesis that some people on the internet call ‘the South Korean answer to the Maserati Quattroporte‘. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, isn’t it? Still, the next flagship for the Korean manufacturer will come with an engine line-up that does sound quite promising: a 3.8-litre V6 delivering 333 hp, a 4.6-litre V8 delivering 385 hp and also a 5.0-litre V8 producing 429 hp. The V8 units will be available in North America only while a diesel powertrain is also in the works to rise more interest among European motorists. The new K9 will come with a standard 8-speed automatic transmission, but a 10-speed gearbox option is also being developed.

Rumor has it that the car will eventually adopt the name ‘Opirus’ and will complete Kia’s three-box line up that features the Forte (C-segment), Optima/K5 (D-segment) and Cadenza/K7 (E-segment). Aesthetically, this car seams to bear some resemblance with the GT Concept we had seen at the latest Frankfurt Motor Show (see gallery below), while the headlights seem to be using full-Led technology. Kia K9/Oprusl is expected to debut by the end of the current year.

View the full Kia K9 spy shots photo gallery
View the full Kia GT Concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show photo gallery

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