Everyone knows that sedans are dead in the U.S., especially big sedans and luxury sedans and sedans from smaller brands. South Korea still has an appetite for trunked cars of all types, whether that be an cheap small Hyundai or an expensive large Mercedes. The latest cool sedan to hit the Korean market is the facelifted Kia K8, what used to be known as the Cadenza, and it’s continuing Kia’s current streak of weird yet wonderful designs.
This generation of K8 debuted in 2021, and the Kia brand has since seen a major shift in design language since then, mainly brought on electric vehicles like the EV3 and EV9 but also seen in combustion models like the Carnival and Sorento. While the main body of the K8 is the same as before, everything ahead of the A-pillar is new. The updated K8 has an almost grille-less face, with tall LED headlights at the edges of the nose that flow into a lower intake using black trim that’s like running mascara. The hood is blockier, and there are horizontal elements across the front end that echo Kia’s “tiger nose” grille.
Kia’s been releasing some of the strangest wheel designs lately, from complex four-spoke designs to three-spokes that look like sci-fi throwing stars. In the main press shots the K8 has split four-spoke wheels with silver trim that makes them look hard to even describe in the context of wheel design, and other photos on Kia’s website show six-spoke wheels that look like a big Y with boat anchors around the rim.
At the rear Kia ditched the pre-facelift K8’s faux exhaust tips, with the new one getting a redesigned bumper that has a horizontal trim element running along the bottom. The internals of the taillights are more technical to match the front light designs, too. I also really love the gold color used in these launch images. Beige is back, baby!
Inside, the dashboard and center console have been completely redesigned, and the door panels got a few slight tweaks. A curved display featuring the gauge cluster and central touchscreen is set into the dash, which has a wing-like shape with slim air vents and new climate controls. The four-spoke steering wheel is the same one as in the EV9, and the K8’s center console looks a lot nicer and has reorganized buttons and more storage. You can get the K8 with a built-in dash cam, augmented-reality navigation, fingerprint authentication, a sterilized under-armrest compartment and two wireless chargers.
Like before, the K8 is offered with a 2.5-liter inline-4 making 195 horsepower or a 3.5-liter V6 that puts out 295 hp, both naturally aspirated. A hybrid model pairs a turbocharged 1.6-liter four with an electric motor for 227 hp, and it can accelerate or decelerate the motor to keep the car more stable when going over bumps. Customers in Korea can also get the K8 with a liquid-propane injection (LPI) powertrain that makes 237 hp.
The new K8 will go on sale in South Korea later this month, though the hybrid will follow later. The cheapest 2.5-liter model starts at the equivalent of around $27,000, while the highest-end hybrid will cost a little over $40,000.
