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Kia's next-generation Amanti will switch from front-wheel-drive to parent company Hyundai's Genesis rear-wheel-drive platform, Motor Trend has learned. The car is expected to launch after the new front-drive Optima, which is scheduled for next summer. The moves will further advance Kia's aggressive makeover, which has been boosted lately by the Soul youth-market hatchback and the recently launched Forte and Forte Koup (coming later this summer) compacts.

It should also provide some embarrassment to companies like General Motors and Ford, which have canceled rear-drive projects in recent years thanks to limited capital resources and concerns over fuel economy standards.

We expect the RWD Amanti to be cheaper, sportier looking and slightly smaller than the Hyundai Genesis sedan, possibly with the same 2.0-liter turbo four and 3.8-liter V-6 engine options of the Genesis coupe, but not the Tau V-8. The current Amanti starts at around $26,000 and is powered by a 3.8-liter V-6 with 264 horsepower. Expect the new Amanti (the car's name could also change) by the end of 2011.

Hybrid power is likely also on the way for U.S. market Kias as well. This week, Hyundai officially launched its Elantra LPI in Korea, a hybrid that mates a liquefied petroleum injected 1.6L engine with a lithium ion polymer battery pack.

While we won't see that combination, Hyundai is preparing to launch its first gasoline-electric hybrid -- a version of the Sonata -- in the second half of 2010 in the U.S., with the powertrain slated for the Optima sometime in 2011. Speaking of Optima, the new model coming next year is expected to be launched about the same time as a five-door hatch version of the Forte. Right behind them will be updated versions of the Rio and Rondo. Also on the drawing board are a dedicated hybrid model in 2012 and a plug-in hybrid in 2013.

On the sport utility front, Kia will have no 2010 model year Sorento. The all-new version will launch early next year as a 2011 model, and it switches from the current body-on-frame platform to a unibody platform based on the front-drive Sonata/Optima. It will be offered with two or three rows of seats, a panoramic sunroof option and choice of four-cylinder or V-6 engines coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission.


All Sorentos for sale in North America will be sourced from Kia's new Georgia assembly plant. Also coming is an updated Sportage sometime in 2010. By the 2012 model year, it's expected that the just launched Borrego will be the oldest model in the Kia lineup.