Kia Picanto, Rio, Cee’d go eco-friendly

With an eye on environmental protection, auto major Kia is doing a bit of rework on its Picanto, Rio, Cee’d and Pro_Cee’d models. The improvements will go some way towards being eco-friendly, but will also offer car buyers some relief due to better fuel efficiency.

The car maker has said that the four versions have been introduced as models in the sub 120g VED band B. This, it said, would help the car owners save up to £85 a year on tax and also further between fill-ups.

Look at what Kia has done to its varied models in its efforts to make the environment greener. While the Picantos have been made into four-seaters in a bid to cut the overall weight of the car and in turn reduce CO2 emissions to as low as 117g per km, the Rio supermini has been programmed to cut emissions on the 1.5-litre CRDi engine to 119g per km. The Picanto is no being dubbed as Kia’s smallest eco-friendly as well as wallet friendly car.

Emissions cut on diesel engines having emerged a priority area, Kia has also adjusted the standard output diesel engine available in the new Cee’d and Pro_Cee’d models.  According to an industry news report, the 1.6-litre CRDi engine now emits just 119g/km with a combined fuel consumption of 62.8 mpg.

In the meantime, the car maker has also successfully unveiled its new state-of the art design centre at its Kia Motors America base in California on an investment of   $130-million. The new campus the Irvine employs as many as 400 permanent full-time employees and has the potential to house almost 600 employees at full capacity.  The corporate headquarters is a custom-built facility and home to the KMA U.S. sales division, as well as its marketing, public relations, consumer affairs, technical service, research and development, product planning and administration departments.