Forget Kia as a car line that's sold on price and "content"--features--alone. Kia has announced that an eight-speed automatic transmission is in the works.
No date of introduction ahs been given, but the implication was that the timing is not too far in the future.
Kia is taking the multi-speed transmission in lieu of a continuously-variable (CVT) transmission and that the company does not have that technolgy on hand. An eight-speed automatic will accomplish the same fuel economy goals as a continuously variable transmission.
No applications were mentioned either, however, a replacement for Kia's midsize Optima is due in 2010, and a replacement for the larger Amanti is overdue.
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