2021 Kia K5 GT Review: The Battle Isn’t Won

Auto123 reviews the 2021 Kia K5 GT. The Optima is dead, long live the K5.. .and the sedan!

The downward spiral of cars in recent years is well-documented, and it got only more pronounced over the past year, no thanks to the pandemic. Consumers are buying more SUVs than any other type of vehicle, and that’s almost all at the expense of cars.

Also well-documented is that a number of manufacturers have long since abandoned certain segments. Less choice of course means that cars sell even less. Supply and demand, chicken and egg. Even those manufacturers still committed to the format are seeing the number of sedans they sell shrink every year.

We salute those carmakers’ commitment. There are still and will always be large numbers of car buyers, some of whom just aren’t fans of the SUV format and others who are simply happiest at the wheel of a good ‘ol four-door.

Those buyers continue to find what they need at Kia dealers, even in the mid-size segment. For 2021, the Korean automaker even comprehensively renewed the model it has been offering for more than 20 years, under a few different names. Remember the Magentis (2002-2010)? It became the Optima (2011-2020), and now it has been transformed again. Meet the K5.

Read more