Exclusive Kia Rio Bites the Dust, Won’t Return for 2024
One of the cheapest and most compelling small cars in Canada is being discontinued for good. Three years after the Kia Rio lost its four-door variant, The Car Guide has received confirmation that the five-door hatchback will not return for the 2024 model year.
In fact, Kia dealers can no longer accept orders. The final units will be allocated by the manufacturer next month, and then that will be it.
After winning The Car Guide’s Best Buy award in the subcompact segment for the past four years, the Rio will leave the Mitsubishi Mirage and Nissan Versa as the only remaining contenders. Both Japanese cars are set to come back for 2024, but maybe not beyond that.
In 2022, Kia sold 6,054 Rios across the country, a surprising increase of 13.7 percent from the previous year. That’s about four times and five times more units, respectively, than the two aforementioned rivals.
Fairly spacious given its diminutive size, the Rio proves safe and pleasant to drive, which can’t be said about all small cars. Performance from its 120-horsepower four-cylinder engine is decent, while fuel consumption is modest (6.7 L/100 km combined with the optional CVT, 7 L/100 km with the standard six-speed manual gearbox).
The 2023 model starts at $19,909 and goes up to $25,459 including freight and PDI. With the Rio’s departure, the most affordable Kia will be the Forte compact sedan, which currently retails from $23,159.
Just above is the Soul at $25,109. As we exclusively reported in early May, the latter is moving forward in gas-powered configuration only as the Soul EV bows out to turn all the spotlight on the next-generation Niro EV crossover.