The media frenzy for the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show is about to begin. The teasers for this year's gala started a long time ago, however, and Kia is the latest automaker to drop a subtle hint of something in the pipeline. Taking to Facebook with a darkened image resembling an SUV, the South Korean manufacturer further promised a reveal on November 20.
We pulled the old brighten-the-image trick to see if there were other details to suss out, which is the image at the top of this article. We didn't see anything new per se, but from what we can see, it strongly resembles the Seltos compact crossover that debuted in India earlier this year. If this is the Seltos, why the secrecy? Kia initially aimed its new people mover for Euro and Asian markets while being coy about offering the Seltos elsewhere, though the company was very clear about this being its new global compact crossover. And it's not like there isn't a thriving small SUV market in America.
There's also a possibility we could be looking at the upcoming Sorento, as we've seen plenty of spy photos of camouflaged prototypes in recent months. This teaser suggests something much smaller than that, however, and our sources still pin the Sorento's debut as happening next year. Still, stranger things have happened.
If this is the Seltos, you can probably think of it as a Kia Niro size-wise, with styling cues akin to the quirky Soul. Engine options for its overseas debut included a turbocharged 1.6-liter, a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter, and a 1.6-liter turbodiesel. It's likely a U.S. market launch would see some revisions under the hood, with power going to either the front wheels or all four.
In any case, our questions will be answered soon enough.
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