The 2025 Kia K4 Looks Like a Step Up from the Forte

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

Kia is revamping its entry-level car. The 2025 Kia K4 will be revealed later this month at the New York auto show as a replacement for the long-running Forte. We won’t have full specs on the car until next week, but its styling and design mark a significant step forward for what will likely still be Kia’s most affordable model.


Like the larger K5, the K4 features sleek styling and unique lines with a futuristic look. Kia retained its signature “tiger nose” grille and gave the car vertical headlight units with large LED daytime running lights. The rear features vertical taillights and an integrated diffuser in the lower bumper.

Kia said it designed the interior with two themes in mind. The driver’s space is focused, with displays and controls oriented toward the seat, while the rest of the passenger cabin focuses on comfort and space. The car is available with a range of interior lighting options, and Kia retained physical controls for often-used functions like maps and the climate system. Kia also offers new interior colors, including green, gray, brown, and black.


We don’t have powertrain specs for the new car yet, but Kia’s expected to offer similar configurations to what was seen in the Forte. That would mean a standard four-cylinder engine with an available turbo. The automaker is also expected to develop a hybrid model and a small electric sedan called the EV4.

The 2025 Kia K4 will officially debut on Mach 27 in New York, so we don’t have long to wait for more information. Pricing details will likely wait until closer to the car’s release date later in 2024.


[Images: Kia]


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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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  • Danddd Danddd on Mar 22, 2024

    That rear quarter panel is just lazy design trying to interpret futuristic 60s. Who would approve this?

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Mar 24, 2024

    The 1986 Accord hatchback coupe has returned!

  • ToolGuy I watched the video. Not sure those are real people.
  • ToolGuy "This car does mean a lot to me, so I care more about it going to a good home than I do about the final sale price."• This is exactly what my new vehicle dealership says.
  • Redapple2 4 Keys to a Safe, Modern, Prosperous Society1 Cheap Energy2 Meritocracy. The best person gets the job. Regardless.3 Free Speech. Fair and strong press.4 Law and Order. Do a crime. Get punished.One large group is damaging the above 4. The other party holds them as key. You are Iran or Zimbabwe without them.
  • Alan Where's Earnest? TX? NM? AR? Must be a new Tesla plant the Earnest plant.
  • Alan Change will occur and a sloppy transition to a more environmentally friendly society will occur. There will be plenty of screaming and kicking in the process.I don't know why certain individuals keep on touting that what is put forward will occur. It's all talk and BS, but the transition will occur eventually.This conversation is no different to union demands, does the union always get what they want, or a portion of their demands? Green ideas will be put forward to discuss and debate and an outcome will be had.Hydrogen is the only logical form of renewable energy to power transport in the future. Why? Like oil the materials to manufacture batteries is limited.
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