Kia Rio 3-door adds extra style and value to fill a gap

Other car makers stopped selling 3-door hatches as budget new cars on the South African market, with cars like the Ford Fiesta 3-door, Renault Clio 3-door, Hyundai Accent 3-door, Citroën C2, Peugeot 208 3-door, Volkswagen Polo and Polo Vivo 3-door all dropped from the local product plan – these are now only available as used cars.  The only 3-door hatches still available as new cars on the SA market in the budget price bracket are the Volkswagen up! and Fiat 500.

Kia South Africa is therefore bold in adding a Kia Rio 3-door alongside the current 5-door hatch body style.  The new Kia Rio is the first compact Kia hatch bought for how it looks, especially in top Tec trim with those shiny 17-inch big alloy wheels, and this is the only spec the Kia Rio 3-door will be available in.

Extra style and sunroof – both added as standard

A 3-door format adds extra style to any hatch, and the Kia Rio 3-door Tec makes a sportier, sleeker, cleaner and more compact package.

The Kia Rio 4-door sedan, 5-door hatch and new 3-door share the same features in the Tec spec, including leather seats, Bluetooth connectivity, USB and aux jack, 1.4-litre Gamma engine with CVVT valve timing, 6-speed manual or 4-speed automatic, 5-year / 150 000 km warranty plus 4-year / 60 000 km service plan.

All 3 body styles cost exactly the same – the Rio 1.4 Tec manual is R 241 995 and R 13 000 more for the automatic gearbox, but where the 4-door and 5-door Rio Tec models have a sunroof as R 7 000 option, the 3-door gets it added as standard, adding extra value. 

The Kia Rio hatch 3-door 1.4 Tec gives more style, with that 3-door body and that free sunroof.  It fills a gap in the market.