New Model Kia Rio Makes The Green Vehicle Guide's Top 20

SYDNEY – June 21, 2010: Kia's light passenger vehicle the Rio has found itself in greener pastures following a recent upgrade which included meeting the requirements of a more stringent emissions standard.

From April production this year all Kia Rios will satisfy the latest emission specification, Euro IV. In doing so the pint sized passenger car has earned itself five stars and worked its way into the top 20 "green cars" according to the Green Vehicle Guide, an Australian Government initiative.

The Rio joins the list in 15th position just a couple of spots behind the Soul in 13th making Kia the only manufacturer to have two mainstream vehicles in the top 20 which aren't either hybrid or "green modified".

The five seat Rio with the 1.4 litre 4-cylinder petrol engine matched to a five speed manual transmission found in the S and LE Sport models, leads the charge boasting urban fuel consumption of 8.6 litres per 100km and combined urban and open road consumption of 6.6 litres per 100km.

These provided Rio with an overall rating of 158 grams of CO2 per kilometre and a 7.5 out of 10 Greenhouse Rating with one being the worst and 10 meaning the best.

The 1.4 litre petrol engine also returned an equal best Air Pollution Rating of 8.5 out of 10. This rating measures the different emissions components including carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). It also analyses the amount of particulate matter like soot, released into the atmosphere.

Kia Motors Australia President and CEO Mr MK Kim said the Corporation has been committed to answering the global challenge for several years.

"Kia Motors Corporation is committed to designing and building cars that not only offer increased performance and safety but also offer improved eco-friendly designs and engineering," Mr Kim said.

"In 2009, we unveiled the Forte (Cerato) LPi Hybrid, the culmination of 20 years of effort aimed at

developing green vehicles with high fuel economy and low emissions. In that same year we managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10.8% per vehicle compared to 2008."

"This attitude also flows down through manufacturing. From 2008 all Kia production and after sales sites in Korea have maintained an inventory of greenhouse gasses and have carried out third party assurance reviews. By 2011 the scope of those reviews will include all of our plants including Slovakia, China and the USA."