Driven: Kia Rio

There is little doubt that the Kia Rio is an excellent new supermini. It continues the Korean firm’s transformation from budget brand to company that should be genuinely taken very seriously. It looks great, drives well enough, and the pick of the engines is the surprisingly lively three-cylinder 1.1-litre diesel that, on paper at least, offers 80+mpg. All good then… so why do I feel a bit disappointed by the car? I think it’s the interior. I was hoping for more. I was hoping it would continue the standard set by the Cee’d, and then bettered by the Soul, Sportage, Sorento and Picanto, but I don’t think it does. The reason is the toggle switches you can see in the picture above, just below the three round ventilation knobs. I’ve seen this photo a few times since it was released earlier in the year and hadn’t picked them out as something of concern, but in reality they are big and ugly and pointless. They don’t really fit with the rest of the dashboard design. I’m writing this in my Portuguese hotel room, having chatted last night to Kia’s design director Peter Schreyer. He said the toggles were a deliberate attempt to move away from a flush-fitting, soft-touch, integrated cabin design, and that he will be using them again on future cars. I think they might have better suited to the Sportage or Sorento – altogether chunkier cars – rather than the Rio. But hey, it’s just an opinion.