Prior to its world debut at the 2015 New York International Auto Show (2015 NYIAS), the 2016 Kia Optima was previewed as the Kia Sportspace concept (pictured above). The presence of an estate/wagon body style led many to believe that the fourth-generation Optima would, for the first time, be offered in such a state.
Alas, Kia has confirmed to Autoguide that a wagon version of the 2016 Kia Optima will progress no further than its current concept guise as fears of it cannibalising sales from the Kia Sorento began to surface the moment production plans were motioned.
"We looked at it. It's a beautiful car and obviously it's a big deal in Europe mainly because they love estates over there," said Orth Hendricks, vice president of product planning at Kia Motors North America. With that said, he added that "what we found is that an Optima wagon (customer) is right on top of our Sorento (buyer)." As a result, the numbers did not add up in favour of the Optima wagon, effectively stalling plans.
GALLERY: Kia Sportspace concept
GALLERY: 2016 Kia Optima
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