Kia to Launch RWD Luxury Quoris Sedan as the K900 in the U.S. in Early 2014 [50 Photos]

Kia’s flagship sedan model, called the K9 in South Korea and Quoris in other overseas markets (but not in Europe where China’s Qoros claimed copyrights to the name), will finally come to the United States early next year, the company told dealers during a Las Vegas meeting on Wednesday, according to information obtained by Autonews.

The report states that Kia told its dealer representatives that the full-size, rear-wheel drive sedan car will be named the K900, which sounds to be in line to what we had heard back in 2010 about the company contemplating alphanumeric names for its North American range.

Don Hobden, chairman of Kia’s national dealer council, told the publication that Kia officials at the meeting called the K900 “a [BMW] 7-series value for a 5-series price,” which is kind of ironic given all the comments about the K9/Quoris/K900 looking a lot like a BMW – in fact, we created a rather convincing, if we may say so, photoshop of a K9 with a BMW-look for our 2012 April Fool’s Day piece.

While Kia officials declined to comment on the report, its dealers were more than happy to convey the information released at the meeting, including the automaker’s intentions to sell about 5,000 units a year (compared to Hyundai’s 2,000-3,000 units U.S. forecast for the related Equus luxury sedan in 2011, its first year on the market), and to promote it at the 2014 Super Bowl.

No pricing was revealed, but dealers believe it will hover around $50,000 to $70,000, with engine options to include both V6 and V8 units delivering up to 420-horsepower to the rear wheels via automatic transmissions.

Ken Phillips, president of Car Pros Kia with dealerships in Washington and greater Los Angeles, told Autonews that the K900 will act as a halo car for the brand.

“When people see it, Kia will quit being the butt of the joke because this is an amazing machine,” Phillips said. “It’s going to be quite an amazing car. That’s a car that when you get the right person in the showroom and they get behind the wheel, they’re going to want to take it home,” he added.

According to other dealers, Kia will choose a limited number of dealerships in key markets including cities along the West Coast, in New England and Florida to introduce the car to consumers.

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