The Kia Rio is now one of the biggest-selling global models of the world’s third-largest car-making group.
Last year, at the tail end of its life cycle, the outgoing version of the Rio registered sales of just under 450,000 units.
However, the car has a much greater profile elsewhere in the world than it has here in Europe, where, despite consistent sales growth, it has yet to break into the top 10 best-selling cars in the supermini class.
You don’t come by a top-10 place in the European supermini sales charts easily, of course.
In order to earn one, the Rio needs to displace a more established European-built small cars, such as the Seat Ibiza, Citroën C3, Fiat Punto or Skoda Fabia (it already sells better than the Mazda 2, Honda Jazz and Nissan Micra).
With that in mind, slowly but surely over the past couple of revisions and not at all by coincidence, the Rio has begun to feel more and more like a small car tailored to European tastes – and this latest version develops that trend.
