The stylish new Kia Cadenza, which is also known as the K7 in its home market, has been given a midlife facelift that borrows strongly from Kia’s Quoris / K9 flagship model. No, the Cadenza isn’t available in South Africa and it probably never will be, unless Kia HQ changes their stance on it being a left-hand drive only model. Based on the car’s svelte new styling, however, we bet local Kia distributors are having a ‘cadenza’ that it isn’t on the ships heading to South African shores right now.
The Cadenza debuted in 2009, but now the revised styling gives it a redesigned bonnet, new boot lid, new front and rear light clusters, new front and rear bumper treatments, and some new air vents on the front fenders and the distinctive ‘tiger nose’ grille. The pre-facelift car had horizontal slats in its grille, while the revised model has a trapezoidal mesh arrangement. The big chrome grille surround is replaced by one that wraps around more compactly too.
Although the cabin of the 2013 model is yet to be revealed, it is tipped to get an overhaul inspired by the luxury Quoris, scoring new technology features, higher quality materials and a cleaner overall layout. The Kia Cadenza will be available in its home market from next month and go on sale in other world markets during the first half of 2013.
In the markets where it is sold, the Cadenza uses a 6-speed automatic transmission with three petrol options: a 148 kW 2.4-litre 4-cylinder; 198 kW 3.0-litre V6; and 216 kW 3.3-litre V6. In its top-performing 3.3 V6 guise, the front-wheel drive Cadenza can sprint to 100 km/h from zero in 7.2 seconds, en route to a top speed of 230 km/h.
