Kia will discontinue its seven-seat Sedona MPV when production ends in 2011.
A senior Korean source told Autocar that there wasn’t major demand for large MPVs such as the Sedona anymore and sales in the sector have been steadily declining.
“With the current trend being towards downsizing, there is no longer a case for cars like the Sedona in the UK,” said the source.
“All our efforts in Europe are making powertrains smaller and more efficient so it’s hard to make a business case for a large MPV with lots of power and high emissions.”
The source confirmed to Autocar that the next Magentis saloon was still going ahead and it would be a “very special” car. He added that he had already seen it in concept form in Korea.
“The new Magneits will be here in 2011 but at the moment we’re getting ready to show it off as a concept,” said the source.
“Peter Schreyer [Kia’s European chief designer] has had lots of influence and it’s going to be a very smart design.”
