Kia will unveil the brand new Rio supermini to the world at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
In anticipation, the company has unveiled these surprisingly rakish concept sketches of the newcomer, with the promise it will be an entirely different animal to today's el cheapo model.
The details are as sketchy as the drawings, but the message is clear: the new Rio will be much sportier, much more upmarket and of much higher quality. Can't ask for much more than that, can we?
Peter Schreyer, the man behind Kia's visuals, calls it "sporty and elegant", and his employer promises that the Rio will be good enough to encourage drivers of bigger cars to downsize into it.
No word on engines or anything yet, but we anticipate a price hike given Kia's lofty aims for the car. We'll find out soon enough, and would expect the car to go on sale before the turn of 2012.
More than 205,000 copies of the current Rio have left Kia showrooms worldwide, and Kia has already made clear that it expects this new one to fare much better. That's a big ambition, though these sketches suggest the Rio is about to become infinitely more desirable.