Turner Kia [4201 Chambers Hill Road Harrisburg, PA], is excited to share big news from Kia for all of you green drivers out there! The Korean automaker recently announced that they will focus their eco-friendly production on electric vehicles and leave hybrid production for their parent company, Hyundai.                                                                     

Yang Woong-chul, the group's VP, elaborated on this effort at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, stating, "Hyundai intends to focus on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and plug-in hybrids, as this seems to be the direction the car market is heading in, especially after 2030."¹

Recently, a team drove a Kia Optima Hybrid across the country, setting the Guinness World Record for "Lowest fuel consumption driving through all 48 contiguous U.S. states in a gasoline hybrid car." But, it looks like this may be one of the final hybrids from the company.

Kia has big plans ahead, however. The mysteriously named TAM will be Kia's first ever mass-produced, high-speed electric vehicle. It's scheduled to hit the market at the end of 2011. Also by the end of this year, Korea's first electric vehicle, 'BlueOn,' developed by Kia's research institute in 2010, will be introduced to the public.

Check back with the Turner Kia blog to stay up-to-date on the latest Kia EV and hybrid vehicle news. Don't hesitate to contact us on our website, we'd be happy to answer any of your questions or schedule a test drive.

Source: ¹http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/09/19/2011091900793.html