Kia Previews 4-Door RWD Coupe Concept for Frankfurt

I'm not just being mysterious; Kia really hasn't announced a name for it.  But what's in a name, anyway?  What's interesting here is that Kia wants to build a low-slung, rear wheel drive "four-door coupe."

Besides a coupe of computer renderings, Kia hasn't given a whole lot of details on the car, but Frankfurt isn't that far away now - so expect more soon.  The big news is that this concept is on a rear-wheel-drive chassis.  That means it could either be based on the Genesis sedan (which has double wishbone independent front suspension) or the related Genesis Coupe (which uses simpler McPherson struts for space constraints.)  Still, this would be the first time Kia has offered a rear-wheel-drive vehicle since the original Sportage quasi-SUV from the 90's, which might as well have been a millenium ago considering how different modern Kia's are.

Like all other modern Kia's, the styling was done by former Audi designer Peter Schreyer, and the clean but aggressive lines are clearly his work.  I wouldn't expect the whacky wheels to make it to the production vehicle, but the basic shape has stylistic ties to the current Kia range (think Forte/Optima).  The Kia corporate grille is evident, but those front intake ducts that fold out of the bodywork are something else - very interesting.

What will power it?  Who knows.  As of now there are a variety of engines that power Genesis vehicles - the 2.0L port-injected 4B11T (Genesis 2.0T), a 3.3L and 3.8L V6, as well as the 4.6L and 5.0L Tau 32v V8's.  Being a show car, it might be something strange like a turbocharged V6 hybrid, but we'll see.  It will be interesting to see some real pictures of this car, because the renderings are enticing!