The biggest thing you’ll notice about the 2016 Kia Optima is how much it reminds you of the 2015 Optima. There’s a nip or tuck or curve, but it’s largely the same look – only not as nice. This is a familiar story and I’m worried how it’s going to end.
Last year at the New York Auto Show, I declared the 2015 Hyundai Sonata a better Toyota Camry than the 2015 Toyota Camry. Its swoopy lines that aged rather poorly had been straightened and the look was more mature, so I thought it was bound to appeal to a wider audience. Sales have not aligned with my expectations from 2014. And I wonder if Kia has made a similar mistake.
Unlike the Sonata, the Optima has aged much better and the current model is still one of the sharper designs in the class. But Kia took the groundbreaking Peter Schreyer and then ruined it by glitzing up the details. Even on the more tame SX Turbo models, there’s a whole lot of brightwork going on, more than on the new Cadillac CT6 even. And the SX Limited model is out of control. Even the 1997 Buick Park Avenue doesn’t want those chrome wheels back.
It’s a quality piece inside, though, and there’s a bit more room here and some nicer finishes there. And it’s all user-friendly, too. The interior is proof the Optima has really changed the most on the outside. It ticks the major midsize sedan boxes, and if the Sonata is anything to go by, it hits the market dead-on.
Kia has been upping its pricing and premiumness of late, so there’s a big emphasis on the top-level models. And that means we should get used to Optimas that start to knock on the door of $40,000. It has a lot of stuff and it’s a quality feel, but the Kia Optima ultimately plays to buyers who believe luxury means more of everything.
The competition, meanwhile, has moved on.
Photos copyright Carscoops.com / Zac Estrada
Twitter: @zacestrada
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