2022 Kia K8 in Canada: A Quick Overview
2022 Kia K8 in Canada: A Quick Overview
Posted on February 24, 2023
The 2022 Kia K8 or Cadenza to Canadians has been unveiled in South Korea. On the heels of news that it would be discontinued in favour of crossovers at some point, we are either seeing our last chance to buy the Kia sedan or a tease of ‘look what you could have had’.
Either way, we like what we see!
This is a superb design. It looks longer and sleeker than the current model and looks amazing. We even like the big grille. Even though BMW went the big grille direction first, we think the Kia version is much more attractive!
Kia K8
The design of the 2022 Kia K8 is more fastback design than sedan. It has smooth lines, a very modern front end with large grille and angled lights, panel detailing and the new Kia badge.
The hood flows over to a raked windshield and down some fluted side panels to a smooth rear end with a full width light arrangement and trunk overhang. Along with integrated tailpipes and modern alloy wheels, the profile is impressive.
We don’t yet have any images of the interior but given previous releases from Kia, we expect a high quality cabin with sumptuous upholstery, lots of new technology, adjustable driving position and lots of upgrades over the current model.
Engine and drivetrain
We don’t yet know what to expect from the 2022 Kia K8 in terms of engine and drivetrain as yet. It isn’t unreasonable to expect a similar outfit to the current Cadenza, which is a 3.3-litre V6 engine that generates 290 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque.
The current Cadenza uses a smooth 8 speed automatic transmission to drive the front wheels. While we don’t yet know, it wouldn’t be out of the question to think we would see this configuration in the new Kia K8.
Sad to say sayonara to sedans
The 2022 Kia K8 is a case in point of why it is sad to see the auto market switch almost entirely to crossovers, SUVs and trucks.
This sedan proves that there is still a way to impress with the sedan shape and deliver an attractive and desirable car to market. It isn’t just the Europeans that are building top quality sedans, the Koreans are doing it too!
Kia, Hyundai and Genesis are all planning new sedan releases for coming years and if this is the shape of things to come, we are going to seriously miss out.
After last week’s update from Kia about pulling out of the sedan market in North America, we don’t even know if we will get the 2022 Kia K8. The Cadenza is being pulled from the market but we don’t know when.
We don’t know whether the old Cadenza and the new K8 are being counted as the same thing. So much is still up in the air right now so it’s going to be a waiting game.