STUD OR DUD? Is KIA Ready To Carve Out A Niche In BMW's Turf With The K9 Flagship?

Yesterday Agent00R brought you the first spy photo of Kia's upcoming RWD flagship code named K9 in the wild.  as good looking as that was you really didn't get feel for it until last night when Kia updated their Facebook page to with a series of preview shots to give us a better look.

Set to debut in worldwide in the first half of this year the K9 is based on the same platform as the Hyundai Genesis and Equus, and will serve to anchor the top end of the lineup for Kia.   With BMW like looks the K9 most likely will have the same power offings as it's siblings from Hyundai including the 4.6L V8  along with 3.6L V6.  We wouldn't rule out the 5.0L V8 as an option as of yet, but at this point anything is possible.

Soon-Nam Lee, Kia's Director of the Overseas Marketing Group, commented on presentation of the firm's new flagship : "K9 is our first rear-wheel drive large sedan, created without compromise in its design, driving performance and new technologies. K9 sets a whole new level of standards and values in the large sedan segment, and its design will be another Kia demonstration of our brand's power to surprise the world."

So is Hyundai targeting the Lexus wanna be market and Kia parceling out it's own niche for the BMW wanna be as well?   An interesting concept for sure.