2014 Kia Cadenza for the US
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After a few years, Kia finally decides to sell the Cadenza in the US.
I guess they see a future for the Hyundai Azera cousin. The Azera is always a rare sight, even the new model. I am not really sure why they would offer 2 models in that same small segment.
It will also have to do battle with the all new Avalon. Which is now a really good looking car and even offers a hybrid version.
I do like the Cadenza (even with its stupid name), but I am really not sure this makes much sense…
Nice enough but nowhere near as cohesive and elegant a design as the Optima.
Probably the most generic looking ugly car they have made in some time now
Don't forget Impala, La Crosse, Taurus, Maxima, and (unless rear-drive cars don't count) Charger and 300. Some may even cross shop with XTS and MKS.
The E-segment is loaded right now.
And the Azera is a beautiful car, but inside Hyundai showrooms, why else (besides absolutely wanting front-drive) would you buy it over a Genesis?
Wow, Kia wasted everyone's time on this one….is it 1990 again?
Never mind seeing a point for both Hyundai Azera and Kia Cadenza I'm slowly not seeing a point to having both Kia and Hyundai. They seem to be targeting the same market but with different styling. Kia being a bit more european in styling and Hyundai more asian. Hyundai may look at Ford/Mercury and Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Chevy and mum..how many other brands did GM have?
We used to gripe about how a chevy,olds,buick,pontiac,saturn all looked the same. I think we've gone backwards, because now it seems like EVERYTHING looks the same. This Cadenza is a case in point. It could easily be a thinly re-skinned Audi, Avalon, Chrysler 200, Fusion, Mazda6, Sonata, 5-Series, Lexus, Passat or any other mid-sized sedan in the $30-$60, price range. I sure miss the days when cars were DISTINCTIVE! (before all the government regulations).
Hyundai Motors only owns 34% of Kia. So even if they cooperate a lot, they are also competitors.
If Kia thinks it will benefit from selling the Cadenza in the US, they will do it, even if it means stealing some of the Azera's market share.
Azera sells zero, this dud, even less. This car is a car to feed executive egos. It's a look at what we cn do. Problem is, this eats up tons of resources , especially cash and will undoubtedtly, offer no return and maybe even a loss
Should have brought the Kia GT instead. The Optima still looks better (even in $35K form…some people are actually buying them for that much).
Funny thing is I'll take an Optima over a Sonata, but an Azera over a Cadenza.
-FusioptimaSX
As everyone else has pretty much already said, this looks very dated and unoriginal.
Audi has moved on to build beautiful and uniquely elegant cars without Peter Schreyer. But now that he's at Hyundai/Kia, he's just left with repurposing old stuff. That's what happens when you hire a one (maybe two or three) trick pony.
Seriously, all kia had to do was google for Schreyer's Audi designs and tweak them a little. Why hire a design guy at all? Just look on the internet for nice styling. I have seen goofs with photoshop who can out style these artsy-fartsy design psycho-infantiles.