2013 Kia K9 goes on sale in Korea, coming to other markets under different name

Meet the most expensive Kia you will every see – the K9. The Kia K9 becomes the brand’s new luxury flagship rear-wheel-drive sedan and goes on sale in Korea today. It will eventually go on sale in other markets around the world but will (thankfully) carry a different name.

“K9 is our first rear-wheel drive large sedan for more than a decade and sets new standards for advanced design, new technologies and driving performance, representing the ‘best of the best’ of Kia,” comments Soon-Nam Lee, Kia’s Director of Overseas Marketing Group. “Demonstrating once again our brand’s power to surprise, K9 will entice an entirely new customer group of progressive, forward-looking consumers to Kia for the first time.”

The new Kia K9 shares most of its components and underpinnings with the Hyundai Genesis and Equus sedans. The model has an overall length of 200 inches, 75  inches wide and 59 inches tall. It sits on a 119 inch wheelbase.

Power for the Kia K9 comes from two gasoline engines including a 3.6 liter V6 making 296-hp and a 3.8 liter V6 making 329-hp. When the model goes on sale in other countries, it will be available with 286-hp 3.8 liter V6 and will eventually get a 3.8 liter GDI making 329-hp.

The new 2013 Kia K9 also gets a bunch of luxury and technology features you probably never expected from a Kia. Those include a Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), radar-based Blind-Spot Detection (BSD) and an Around-View Monitor (AVM) with four cameras. It also gets a 12.3-inch full size TFT LCD screen, a HUD (head-up display), twin 9.2-inch monitors to entertain rear seat passengers, a 17-channel, 17-speaker Lexicon (by Harman) sound system and adaptive cruise control.

Will it come to the United States. Nothing has been confirmed yet but we wouldn’t doubt it.

– By: Omar Rana