Oh, sure, at a glance it’s just the Kia Forte wagon, nothing to see here. The new Forte5 is an important part of Kia’s subcompact lineup, however, if only because this is one of the few markets where a five-door hatchback has a hope of being popular.
With the Forte5, Kia is able to compete with small five-doors like the Mazda3, Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf, and this gives it an edge over the Honda Civic, Chevrolet Cruze, Dodge Dart and Toyota Corolla, which are currently sedan-only. The Forte5 was introduced at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this year, and Kia’s just sweetened the deal with the news that the Forte5, like the Forte Koup, will be available with a 201-horsepower 1.6 liter direct-injection turbocharged engine. Standard in the uplevel SX model, the turbo adds about thirty horses to the stable and is available with a six-speed manual transmission.
The Forte5’s lines are somewhat Mazda-ish, with one-box styling and an athletic-looking front end. The interior benefits from the upgrades in materials and technology that characterize the Forte sedan, and there are 23.2 cubic feet of cargo space at the rear. Eighteen-inch wheels, satellite radio, Kia’s FlexSteer selectable steering response system and a backup camera are standard on the turbocharged Forte5 SX.
Both the Forte5 and the Forte Koup go on sale late this fall as 2014 models. Kia will release pricing and other information closer to the car’s launch date.
