Kia Credos upgrade comes at a cost

KIA has added alloy wheels and a CD player as standard equipment in the Credos but the extra features come at a $4000 premium.

The Kia Credos now costs $23,990 for the five-speed manual version or $25,990 when equipped with the four-speed electronically controlled automatic.

Standard equipment already included air-conditioning with semi-automatic control, a driver's airbag, central locking, power windows and mirrors, front and rear fog lights and a trip computer.

As before, the Credos is powered by a 2.0-litre, twin cam, 16-valve engine that develops 98kW and 171Nm, more or less on par with its opposition.

While the latest specification upgrade means the Credos is better equipped than any of its rivals, time will tell whether this translates to an improved sales performance.

Kia's flagship sedan notched up just 365 sales last year and the model found just 63 buyers in the first three months of 2000.

The marque's new distributor, Kia Automotive Australia - owned by Ateco - has set ambitious sales targets for 2000, based largely on anticipated demand for the imminent Rio entry level car.

Kia sold just 5603 vehicles in Australia last year, an average of 467 a month, but the new distributor has set a target of 1500 vehicles a month once the model range is complete.

Rio is expected to account for 40 per cent of the total, or about 600 units a month.

On last year's figures, this would make the Rio the third-highest selling car in the light car market, behind the Ford Festiva and Holden Barina.

At the end of the year, though, the Festiva will be gone after Ford failed to secure supplies of the Rio, which would have been sold as Festiva.