Kia Motors on Thursday pledged to soak up market shares of not just its in-house rival Hyundai Sonata but also the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, with the new launch of the facelifted K5.

The Hyundai Motor affiliate recently unveiled the new K5, the facelift of its hot-selling family sedan, in three years.

“The nation’s midsize car market last year declined 21 percent due to few new launches,” said Kim Chang-sik, executive vice president at Kia Motors, ahead of a ride event in the day.

“We would seek synergy with Hyundai’s newly launched Sonata in order to expand our slice of sales in the market.”

Since the car started receiving preorders since June 3, some 6,600 new contracts have been signed, according to the carmaker. “We plan to sell 74,000 K5 cars per year,” Kim said.

The new K5 has embraced a fresh style, with new features including LED fog and rear lamps, a new radiator grille and high-gloss steering wheel.

Another distinctive feature is the turbocharged option, on which Kia pins high hopes of securing a competitive edge in its race with Japanese rivals such as Toyota and Honda which are expanding presence here.

“The K5 turbo, which is equipped with a 2.0-liter GDI engine, can generate 271 horsepower and a maximum torque of 37.2 kilogram-meters. That outpaces its key rivals such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord,” said Suh Choon-kwan, head of domestic marketing group.

The marketing chief also cited Renault Samsung Motors’ 192-horsepower SM5 TCE as its key rival, saying: “The little price difference would baffle Renault Samsung.”

The comments, however, stirred some disputes as Renault Samsung fought back immediately, saying the two models started from totally different concepts.

“The SM5 TCE is the nation’s first downsized model in the midsize segment, featuring a better fuel economy of 13 kilometers per liter. It is meaningless to compare their horsepower only,” the company said in a statement.

The SM5 TCE or Turbo Charged Efficiency is a downsized version with Nissan’s 1.6-liter GDi turbo charger engine, while the K5 turbo is a high-performance version of the 2.0-liter sedan with a fuel economy of 10 kilometers per liter.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)