Kia discontinuing Rio subcompact sedan

Kia America's Rio subcompact car will not return for the 2024 model year. It follows the demise of its small Hyundai counterpart, the Accent, discontinued after the 2022 model year.

Though Kia said it will remain in the sedan business, Americans are leaning toward larger, higher-riding crossovers. Light trucks, a category that includes minivans, crossovers, SUVs and pickups, accounted for 79 percent of all new U.S. vehicle sales for the first six months of 2023 .

That trend was reflected in Rio sales. The Rio ended 2022 with sales of just 26,996, a 14-percent decline, according to the Automotive News Data & Research Center. Through July of this year, Rio sales are down 5 percent.

The automaker's smallest vehicle is built at its factory in Monterrey, Mexico, where Kia appears to be planning to produce two small electric vehicles after the plant is retooled for electrification.

Also assembled in Mexico is the Forte compact sedan. The Forte continues to do well in the U.S., logging sales of 73,065, an increase of 18 percent, through the first seven months of the year.