Yahoo Autos The New Kia Forte5 Hatchback Exists, but We Don't Know If It's Coming to the U.S.
The Kia Forte compact car was redesigned for 2019, but only the sedan version has arrived in the U.S. market so far.
A hatchback version called the Forte5 exists for the Canada market but hasn't been confirmed for the U.S.
The 2020 Forte5 goes on sale in Canada this fall, but Kia says it has not yet decided whether or not it will reach the U.S. market.
A new generation of the Kia Forte sedan has been on sale for months now, but where is the new Forte5 hatchback version? We asked Kia about it, and the company says it hasn't decided yet whether to sell the new Forte5-pictured here in its Canada-market form-in the United States. The previous two generations of the Forte both offered a Forte5 variant in the U.S., but the previous-gen Forte5 was discontinued after the 2018 model year.
In Canada, the new 2020 Forte5 will be available with either a base 2.0-liter inline-four paired with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) or a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four mated with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The base 2.0-liter engine is the same as what's available in the U.S.-market Forte sedan, while the turbocharged engine is the same as what we Americans will get in the upcoming Forte GT sedan, where it makes 201 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque and can also be had with a six-speed manual.
The Forte5 otherwise appears nearly identical to the Forte sedan we get-other than its hindquarters, of course. It has the same wheelbase but is about five inches shorter overall than the sedan. The extra practicality of the hatchback appeals to us, so we're hoping that Kia makes the correct decision to sell the Forte5 here.
The 2020 Forte5 goes on sale in Canada this fall, and we expect to hear one way or another about its fate in the U.S. within the next few months.
('You Might Also Like',)
