Kia moves upscale with 2014 Cadenza

The all-new premium sedan is the Korean automaker's ‘most technologically advanced’ vehicle ever on U.S. roadways.

Kia's first full-size sedan represents the company's most powerful and technologically advanced product offering ever for the North American market. Several months after the Cadenza's January debut at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, automotive and lifestyle media including AEI had the opportunity to test-drive the car and experience its 293-hp (218-kW) gasoline direct injection (GDI) V6, its sport-tuned suspension, and suite of active safety technologies including Kia's first application of advanced smart cruise control (ASCC) on the roads surrounding Del Mar, CA.

The Cadenza succeeds in moving the Kia brand up-market, from its European-influenced design driven by Kia Motors' President and Chief Design Officer Peter Schreyer (who previously worked at Audi), to its long list of premium features such as an advanced navigation system with SiriusXM Traffic and UVO eServices telematics displayed on a high-resolution 8-in touch screen. (To read more on Kia's UVO infotainment system, go to http://articles.sae.org/11824.)