Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The Kia Sephia (known as the Mentor in some markets) was a compact car / small family car manufactured by the Korean automaker Kia Motors from 1992 to 2000. It was the marque's venture into low cost family cars for the overseas market and was sold as either a hatchback or a sedan. It was powered by 1.5 (Europe), 1.6 and 1.8 L fuel injected inline four-cylinder gasoline engines. In the United Kingdom, it had a starting price of less than £10,000, right up to the end of production in 2004. This meant that it was competing on price, but not quality, with the likes of the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa and Peugeot 206, despite being of a comparable size to the likes of the Ford Focus. In the UK, Autocar Magazine described it as being "A gem that isn't left wanting in the handling department" and praised its "on-demand firecracker performance and particularly sweet free-revving 1.8-litre engine." Sales were not particularly high, as the car's main attraction was its bargain price and it offered little in the way of dynamic qualities.
The Mentor nameplate was dropped on hatchback models following the launch of the Kia Shuma in 1999, although the Mentor sedan was sold until the Kia Cerato range was launched in 2004. The Sephia/Mentor was also the basis of the Timor in Indonesia.
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