Kia launches K4 hatchback from €31,500

Kia has launched the K4 hatchback in Ireland with prices starting from €31,500, writes Trish Whelan. 

Designed to meet the demands of modern drivers, the K4 offers generous interior space, premium features and advanced technologies. Key features include the floating roofline that slips stylishly into the rear of the hatch, Star Map Signature Lighting inspired by their EV9 and rear hidden door handles integrated into the C-pillar. Boot space is a decent 328 litres, expandable with folding down the rear seats. 

Three trim levels are offered. The entry level K2 (from €31,500) includes Kia’s triple panoramic display of 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment with wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, a 5.3-inch climate control screen, and 12.3-inch digital drivers cluster, 16-inch alloys, dual-zone climate control, front and rear parking sensors, forward collision avoidance assist, heated steering wheel and front seats, LED headlights. K3 (from €34,000) adds 17-inch alloys, vegan leather seats, black and chrome exterior detailing, LED headlights, rear blind spot collision avoidance assist, power driver’s seat with lumbar support, wireless charging and rear privacy glass. The range topping GT-Line (from €38,500) adds a digital key 2.0, driver memory seat, glass sunroof, GT-Line exterior and interior styling, highway driving assist 2, smart cruise control 2, ventilated front and heated rear seats. Customers have a choice of seven exterior colours including two non-metallic colours. 

K4 launches with 1.0 T-GDI Mild-Hybrid petrol engine outputting 115hp coupled with a six-speed manual transmission or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT). A 1.6 GDI Hybrid (HEV) version with 154hp will arrive before the end of the year also. 

Vehicles are now available to test drive at Kia dealerships nationwide.

Kia EV5 review: Brian Byrne, Irish Car

Kia may be suffering from a model naming issue, albeit achieving considerable success with its electric vehicle range, writes Brian Byrne. While EV6 and EV9 were manageable at the start of the 'EV' moniker, there are now so many that it's confusing — EV3, EV4, EV5, and an EV2 upcoming. Add to that the way the company marks specification grades in 'K' designations, K1-K4, the soon-arriving combustion engine car, model name K4, is going to add to the perplexity. Just saying.

None of which takes away from the quality of the Korean brand's cars, which helped the Irish distributor to achieve over 10,000 sales in 2025 across its range. My latest review model was the EV5, a mid-size SUV close enough in size to the latest generation of the Sportage to be its electric equivalent. Though the EV is slightly larger in every dimension. Against competitor brands, it sits in size between Nissan's Ariya and Opel's Grandland.

The EV5 follows the boxy style of the much larger EV9, and the smaller EV3 debuted in Ireland this time last year, a theme which gives the latest car a similar strong presence even when parked. The front is marked by an even more distinctive lighting signature than the highly individualistic ones which the brand has been developing in previous models. The profile view features brawny sculpting and pronounced wheel arch curves, while the rear has a deep overhang spoiler element, which the company says helps to keep the rear screen from getting dirty. Kia and Hyundai cars in recent years have ditched the rear wiper, depending on this feature. The customer jury is divided on its effectiveness, but the Kia designers say it helps with aerodynamics, key to extending the range of an electric car.

There are no design surprises inside for anyone who has driven Kia EVs; strong style elements in the dashboard and trims, the very wide screen integrating the three elements of driver information, climate, and infotainment. On all three, the graphics and info are clear, as they also are on the steering wheel controls. Temperature and radio volume use real switchgear, and the buttons for the seat heating and ventilation are on the doors. While setting up the preferred driver assistance features can be shortcut-accessed by linking them to a * button on the steering wheel, it still takes five taps on the screen to deal with them every time you start up. Note to all carmakers: the Dacia single-button system is the one to emulate here.

The seats are similar to what we've seen in other Kia EV models, nicely bolstered and finished in a leather-type material that's easy to keep clean, and both front and rear are heated. With an extended wheelbase, there's plenty of room for the three rear passengers, though the centre one could feel it as too cosy, depending on fellow travellers' bulk. The 566L boot is second only to Skoda's Enyaq in the class. Lowering the back seats provides a two-metre-long, absolutely flat floor. 

Kia's own app can enable digital key entry via smartphone, and also allows remote digital key sharing. A fingerprint authentication system helps prevent unauthorised access to the car. An entertainment package can include Netflix and YouTube—obviously not for front-seat use.

Three grades share the same 81.4kWh battery, with a rated range of 505-530km, the lower figure for the top-spec and presumably heavier GT-line model. The motor delivers up to 215hp and allows the 2-tonne car to reach 100km/h in 8.4 seconds, a reasonable acceleration that should be enough for anyone. The 16.4kWh/100km I got on a typical morning 50km commute was notably efficient.

The drive is smooth and quiet, as we expect from EVs of any decent quality. Last year, the EV3 led Kia Ireland to its own record car sales. This year, because of interest, they've already had to negotiate further EV5 supply. A good space for a car company to be smiling in.

PRICE: From €47,625-€54,000. WHAT I LIKED: The current Kia way. 

New MGS6 provides generous all-electric range

MG's new MGS6 EV is now on sale in the brand’s showrooms nationwide priced from €39,495-€46,495, writes Trish Whelan. Powered by a 77 kWh battery and available in both rear-wheel and all-wheel drive, this is a spacious, refined and generously equipped mid-size SUV that has already achieved a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating. 

Three variants are offered, Excite Long Range with a single motor and power output of 180kW and a combined range of 530km; the Exclusive Long Range with the same 530km capability, power and rear wheel drive configuration but with a high level of specification and more comfort and technology features, and the Exclusive Dual Motor with a power output to 266kW and with a 0-100km/h time of 5.1 seconds. This performance-focused variant achieves a claimed range of 485km. All three models can charge from 10-80 per cent in 38 minutes using rapid public chargers. Five drive modes and five regeneration modes, including One-Pedal mode, also feature across all variants. 

Boot capacity with rear seats up is 674 litres and up to 1,910 litres with them folded. The Exclusive single motor variant has up to 124 litres of frunk space. Standard equipment includes MG Pilot safety systems, heated front seats and steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, dual screens, wireless smartphone connectivity and satellite navigation. Higher trims add features such as a head-up display, panoramic roof, ventilated seats and a 360 deg camera. MG offers an eight-year/150,000km warranty. 

MG has announced the appointment of two new dealers, Frank Keane Drogheda, located on North Road, Drogheda, Co Louth; and Doyle’s Garage on Coast Road, Courtown, Gorey, Co. Wexford. 

Polestar 5 makes its Irish debut

Polestar, the Swedish electric car brand, unveiled the Polestar 5, four-door performance Grand Tourer last week, writes Trish Whelan. 

Available to order now, Polestar 5 Dual motor Launch edition (550kW, 812Nm, 0-100km/h 3.9 secs) is priced from €130,700. The Polestar 5 Performance Launch edition (650kW, 1,015Nm) is available from €145,700. 

Polestar Ireland Brand Director, Jordan Killen, says this is the purest Polestar yet and completes the current line-up. 

Launching in Ireland in Summer 2026, full specification and pricing is available at polestar.com/ie.

New BYD Seal 6 Super Hybrid saloon and touring models

BYD has introduced their family-sized Seal 6 Super Hybrid - a plug-in hybrid with intelligent BYD Super DM-i technology, writes Trish Whelan. 

The model arrives in Ireland both as a saloon version and, in a new body style for BYD in Europe, an estate version named the BYD Seal 6 Super Hybrid Touring. 

With its compact petrol engine, the combination of battery and motorised power translates into over 100km of pure-electric driving, and a combined range of 1,505kms on the saloon ‘Boost’ variant, with a full charge and full tank of fuel. Boot space is a decent 491 litres increasing to 1,370 litres with rear seat backs folded; the Touring model has 675 litres, extendable to 1,535 litres. The car is capable of 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds, has peak torque of 300Nm. 

The new Seal 6 Super Hybrid is the second BYD to come to Ireland equipped with their DM-i dual mode technology and is the first of six new models to arrive here this year. It is available in Ireland in ‘Boost’ and ‘Comfort’ trim variants and comes equipped with a big array of standard specifications. 

A short test drive in the saloon version on launch day, proved this is quite an upmarket car, comfortable and spacious. The car provides an efficient, practical and eco-conscious solution for daily mobility and long worry-free journeys. 

Both versions are capable of 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds. Peak torque is 300Nm. 

Awarded a full five-star Euro NCAP rating, safety fitments include numerous advanced driver assistance systems such as front parking sensors, rear radar, 360-degree camera, sensors and reversing camera. 

Prices start at €37,490 for the saloon body style, and from €38,999 for the Touring model (pictured below).

 

Citroen C5 Aircross First Drive: Brian Byrne, Irish Car

I've long believed the SUV definition needs clarification, writes Brian Byrne. Originally, the term 'Sports Utility Vehicle' referred to heavy-duty 4x4s built for work, often for use in rugged terrain. They were, by nature, heavy, noisy, and quite uncomfortable. Later, luxury SUVs emerged, equipped with large engines and high fuel consumption that their affluent owners could afford to overlook. To environmentalists, they became — and remain — anathema. 

Over the past decade or so, the SUV style has been adapted for the family car market, built on standard car platforms, and known as crossovers. Usually taller than the hatchbacks they are based on, they consume more fuel. But in reality, that increase is minor and reasonable considering their extra space and practicality as family vehicles. They do not merit the criticism sometimes directed at them solely because they have an SUV shape and are called SUVs 

With close to a third of registrations in 2025, the medium SUV category is now the most popular car type on the Irish market. Indeed, four of the top ten car models sold here last year were in that category: Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Toyota RAV4, and Volkswagen's Tiguan. Other makers big in the segment are Nissan, Skoda, Peugeot, and Ford. The premium brands are also represented, though for obvious reasons in smaller numbers.

Citroen has also been on the list for many years, though as a minority brand. Still, the C5 Aircross, which debuted in 2017, has been the leading model in that carmaker's range in recent years. The completely new second-generation C5 Aircross has just gone on sale in Ireland, and I've had an introductory drive in it.

The production version has stayed true to much of the concept debuted at the Paris Mondiale some 16 months ago. The previous model had rather quirky styling; the new C5 Aircross is a little more subdued than its predecessor, but arguably has at least as much presence. A handsome vehicle, it's longer than the first generation, has an extended wheelbase, and offers significantly more headroom for rear passengers.

The latest version of the Citroen chevron badge is set large and proud in the centre of the facia — in my case, the grille-less electric variant. The thin matrix headlights give the car a quietly determined look. There's a subtlety to the profile character lines that nevertheless provides enhanced aerodynamics, as does the angled rear section of the roof. Squared-off wheel arches and angular details on the rear also suggest strength.

Inside, there's a deep flat dashboard with a full-width trim element designed to increase the feeling of width. Totally new to the brand — indeed to the Stellantis Group — is a vertical centre screen in what they call a floating 'waterfall' format, melding into the centre console and forming a useful open storage space underneath. Shiny black plastics and soft-touch trim elements have been integrated well together, and the ergonomics of the switchgear and virtual screen controls are well thought out. As a Stellantis Group brand, some control relationships with cousin models, such as the Opel Grandland and its Peugeot equivalents, are evident and welcome.

Citroën has made comfort its unique selling proposition, and the seating in the latest C5 Aircross is an excellent example of the brand's efforts there. The quilted finish and high-density foam make for a very comfortable travel experience. Aided under the car by Citroen's patented progressive hydraulic shock absorbers, which really do work as well as they are promised to. For rear passengers, there's claimed segment-leading legroom in seats with a 3-way split option and adjustable backrests. The luggage space behind them at 651L is exceptional and remains the same across powertrains.

As I said, my first driving experience was in the full-electric version, which offers 210hp and a 73kWh battery, with a rated range of up to 520 km. The other drives include a 145hp petrol-hybrid and a 225hp plug-in hybrid with a rated electric-only range of 96 km. The fuel tank in that one is also larger, with a total PHEV range of 1,100 km.

On my drive, I appreciated the easy entry and the car's interior space. The electric drive was smooth and quiet, and there was an overall feeling of strength about the car, which I'll be interested in learning more about when I take one for a full review.

In the meantime, the new C5 Aircross certainly leaves a positive feeling.

PRICE: From €39,300 for the hybrid; electric from €39,939. WHAT I LIKED: Comfort in a stylish package.