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Kia Amanti “Stage 1” Concept Vehicle
http://www.kia.com/110403.php

Arriving in dealer showrooms in late-November, the all-new 2004 Amanti large premium sedan is the newest addition to the growing Kia product range and the most recent fulfillment of the company’s plans to reach out to a larger number of American consumers.

The Amanti is no cookie-cutter car, and the Amanti “Stage 1” concept vehicle builds upon the sedan’s bold styling cues such as its classically inspired grille and its limousine-like roofline, adding several elegant, yet subtle, design touches.

Working together, Kia and No Limits added black chrome exterior trim pieces, a dramatically lowered sport suspension system, a stainless mesh front grille and plus-one 17-inch uni-directional tires to give the Amanti Stage 1 concept vehicle its powerful stance and to help set the concept car apart from its production sibling. Black chrome alloy wheels, tinted windows, “Jet Black” exterior paint and a custom dual exhaust system are the final touches that provide a more upscale, personalized look to the premium sedan.

Inside, the all-new Amanti features an elegant interior design highlighted by a wide range of standard comfort, safety and convenience features, including eight airbags and the most sophisticated audio system ever offered in a Kia – a six-channel, eight-speaker, 270-watt sound system by Infinity featuring an in-dash six-disc CD changer, AM/FM receiver and cassette deck. The Amanti Stage 1 concept car takes Amanti’s rich surfaces and useful features to a new level with enhancements such as a rear seat DVD entertainment system and Bluetooth enabled hands-free phone system.

The Amanti — Kia’s first full-size luxury sedan, which debuted in Geneva as the Opirus and was introduced to Americans at the New York International Auto Show in early spring — already evokes the Ford Crown Victoria’s exterior lines and the grille-and-headlight styling of the Mercedes-Benz sedans; the Stage 1 makeover at SEMA gives the Amanti an athletic visage akin to that of Mercury’s Grand Marquis-on-steroids, the Marauder, but less audacious.

A stainless-steel mesh grille enhances the front end of the Kia Amanti with the Stage 1 package.

A stainless-steel mesh grille, black-chrome trim and black-chrome alloy wheels, “Jet Black” paint and tinted windows give the Amanti Stage 1 its “bad” attitude. The wheels are 17 inches and the suspension has been lowered. The car also has a custom dual exhaust.

While the regular Amanti comes with a six-channel, eight-speaker Infinity sound system with an in-dash six-disc CD player and cassette player, the Amanti Stage 1 adds a rear-seat DVD entertainment system and Bluetooth-enabled hands-free phone system.

No Limits custom shop joined Kia for the Amanti Stage 1 project.

The Amanti and the Stage 1 concepts are indicators of the company’s efforts to attract larger numbers of American consumers. The Amanti will reach dealers in the near future — and might broaden Kia’s appeal among older, affluent car buyers — but it's unclear whether the Stage 1 concepts will come to fruition and lead to a Stage 2 and Stage 3, and a full-scale authorized-aftermarket-parts program. Such a program might expand Kia’s standing among the highlyprized youth market.

Kim Custer, director of public relations for Kia, made it clear that the Stage 1 concept display was a purely exploratory endeavor — “an approach we’d like to take . . . [that] we’re showing here for feedback.”

Butterfield speculated that the Stage 1 concept package, if it came to market in its current form, would add $2,500 to $3,000 to the cars’ retail price.