Kia Presents: Rondo Redux

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Remember the Kia Rondo? If you’re reading this, then you probably do. The other 99.9% of the American public definitely doesn’t.

The compact minivan segment was never a hot one in the United States, and the Rondo was always inferior to the Mazda5, so don’t expect Kia to bring the next-generation Rondo (known as the Carens elsewhere) to our market. In Europe, it will do battle against cars like the Ford C-Max and Opel Zafira, in a crowded segment that just got disrupted by the cut-rate Dacia Lodgy.

Oh, did we mention it’s available with a manual as well?

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Kabayo Kabayo on Sep 20, 2012

    It's not a minivan! It's a tall wagon.

  • Luke42 Luke42 on Sep 20, 2012

    The problem with compact minivans is that they're smaller with the same MPG and roughly the same pricetag. My wife and I both liked the Mazda 5, but couldn't get past the fact that it's MPGs are within rounding error of the Sienna. The Prius V and the C-Max both at least get you MPGs. But, at 2-rows, they're wagons and not compact minivans. But you get something other than parkability for going smaller.

    • Psarhjinian Psarhjinian on Sep 20, 2012

      "The problem with compact minivans is that they’re smaller with the same MPG and roughly the same pricetag." This is largely true if your mileage is mostly highway. In the city the mileage gap widens and the parkability of a 5, Rondo or Orlando becomes notable. That said, I'd really have liked Toyota to release a seven-seat Prius V, and I suspect they didn't so as to protect sales of the (much more expensive) Highlander Hybrid.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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