Kia will remove diesel variants of the Kia Rio and Kia Venga from its UK line-up once existing stock sells out.
A Kia spokesman told Autocar that no new examples of either diesel cars have been ordered for Britain but production would continue for other markets.
He also said that although the diesel hatchbacks equate to 20% and 19% of their respective models’ overall UK sales, they are being removed because the actual volumes are low.
Last year, of the 8470 Rios sold in Britain, 1673 were diesels, down from 1773 in 2016.
The story was similar for the Venga: of 6130 examples delivered last year, just 1172 were diesels. In 2016, 1365 diesel Vengas were sold.
The spokesman said the decision to remove the models was not influenced by the recent change in public perception of diesel.
He said that while a large proportion of Kia’s overall sales are still of diesels, that trend was only true for bigger cars.
Sales of diesel cars have tumbled by almost a third in recent months following the Government’s Autumn Budget, in which increased tax on all new diesel cars was announced.
The decline came as part of an overall fall for new car sales, by 5.7% across the whole year.
Kia grew its market share in the UK in 2017 to 3.75%, up from 3.32% in 2016. Almost half of the Korean manufacturer's UK sales were attributed to its Kia Sportage and Kia Sorento SUVs.
More content:
How Kia has cracked the UK market
Join the debate
Add your comment
Venga
I have been Venga owner now for going on 10 years and have owned 4 Vengas.
All I have done is top them up with Petrol and water, totally trouble free motoring.
The 1.4 version I felt was a bit loose in places causing the odd rattle here and there .
But it could have been sorted out by now.
I just bought a new one recently after looking at the New VW T-Cross and the Seat Arona
They could offer nothing extra for the extra £7,000 they cost.
The Captur had bad road manners, bad paint and bad reliability . ( its soon to get a revamp)
The Jazz is the only match, but it does not have the high SUV style seating position or heated seats or Camera etc and costs more.
Venga
Why is the Venga aways missed out in most car mags . You hardly see a mention of it.
When they put cars into sections like Small car, Family car, Small MPV or small SUV. they never know where to place the Venga so its left out
The venga has two USP 's that no other car can match.
The size of its boot (and I don't mean compared to size of car)
Its boot is bigger than cars twice its size
Only the jazz can match it
The other point is that there is no transmission tunnel
Its completely flat and thus three can sit so much easier in the back (only one car mat required)
Again only the jazz can match.
And on top of that it has a high SUV style sitting position.
The one thing the Jazz cannot match.
And if you want bells and whistles its got Sat Nav, reversing camera, parking sensors, heated seats, cruise control, Bluetooth, USB's to allow memory stick play back using Sat nav screen, Eco stop start, Climate control Air Con, !6 inch alloys which will take you up snow covered hills where 17 and 18 inch wheels wont go.
All in a small footprint to squeeze in through any tight traffic jam.
AND a 7 year warranty to boot which is passed onto the next owner. ( No one does this)
All of this you can get fairly easily for £15,500 for a nice dealer .
Why oh Why does Kia not advertise all this ?
Why don't car magazines tell you of this .
You try a search for a flat foor rear and you wont find anything
You look for a car with 440 odd Cu ft with seats up you wont find any
Its back seats also recline and move back and forward
Car mags always say "best in class for boot space" but they never take the Venga into account
Reason is they always discount the Venga from what ever class they are taking about.
The Venga needs to be classed officially
And Kia should market it with its USP's Flat floor, large boot and add ons for a small price.
I agree though, its Diesels were rubbish and its Auto version even worse .
The 1.4 version was built in a different factory than its superia built 1.6 version
Engine is the only decent thing!
I have the previous generation Rio with the 1.1 3 cylinder diesel which is great, 6 speed gearbox, loads of torque, currently 67 mpg and great on the motorway but the rest of the car - can see why they offer 7 year warranty = new steering rack, clutch slave cylinder, interior light, tailgate struts, rear brake calipers.... wouldn't buy a Kia again.