This Prototype Might Be Kia’s Coolest Secret Yet

More practical variant of the K4 sedan and hatch has a sloping roofline and angled rear screen

Car Talk, Autos May 23, 2025 0 0 Add to Reading List

This Prototype Might Be Kia’s Coolest Secret Yet

Kia has been spied testing a wagon version of its new K4 in Europe.
The ICE-powered estate retains the K4 sedan’s C-pillar door handles.
Fang-shaped rear lights are seen poking through this car’s disguise.

Kia’s K4, a combustion replacement for the Forte in North America, has gone down so well with buyers it was the brand’s best-selling car in January in the US, and beaten only by the Sportage in April. Both the sedan and hatch are sharp-looking and affordable, but soon Kia will add another, even more practical variant to the lineup in select markets.

These fresh spy shots from Europe show a K4 wagon testing in prototype form and covered in the usual black zip-up romper suit Kia prefers to dress its cars in, rather than the swirly full-body camo wraps other brands go for.

Foam blocks under the disguise are designed to obscure the true shape of the new rear bodywork, but they can’t hide the sporty-looking sloping roofline or the angle of the rear window. Those cues tell us that although the wagon might be capable of swallowing more luggage than any other K4, it won’t sacrifice style to do it.

The rear door handles are mounted in the upper frame adjacent to the C-pillar, just as they are on the sedan and hatch. And the same soccer goal-shaped LED light arrangement consisting of two vertical fangs and a horizontal strip connecting them at the top can be seen poking through the camo at the rear.

It’s not clear if the wagon will be offered in the US, though the prospect seems unlikely. It’ll definitely be offered in Europe though, where the K4 hatch will replace the Golf-sized Ceed and estate cars like the Ceed Sportswagon still have a small, but loyal following.

Electric powertrains won’t be on the menu – that’s the job of the new EV4 – so buyers will get to pick from a lineup of four-cylinder turbocharged engines. US K4s come with a choice of 147 hp (150 PS) naturally aspirated 2.0 and 187 hp (190 PS) turbocharged 2.0 motors, but 1.6-liter mild- and potentially plug-in hybrids are more likely to be the order of the day for Euro cars when they’re launched later this year.