As automakers have increasingly focused their energy on SUV shoppers, Americans have found themselves with fewer options outside the SUV classes. We particularly miss the variety of hatchbacks on offer a decade or more ago.
Compact sedans are great, and we’ve enjoyed the Kia K4. But a hatchback version of a compact sedan has most of the same virtues, with more cargo space. We miss those.
Kia, however, has heard our call. The company used this week’s New York Auto Show to promise a new hatchback version of the K4 for the 2026 model year.
About the K4
The K4 sedan is new enough that you may not have seen many on the road. It debuted for the 2025 model year, replacing the Forte. Our editors love its dramatic styling, roomy cabin, and reasonable prices (starting at $23,165).
Kia hasn’t revealed pricing for the hatchback model.
It competes with compact cars like the Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Sentra, Honda Civic, and Mazda3. Most of those offered a hatchback version not long ago. Among those, only the Corolla, Civic, and Mazda3 still offer hatchbacks.
Sporty Look, 22.2 Cubic Feet of Cargo Space
Stretching the roof back gave the K4 a wedge-like shape that compliments its angular styling well. Designers blacked out part of the rear pillar to give it a floating roof look.
“Hidden rear door handles integrated into the C-pillar further accentuate its hatchback proportions, reinforcing its athletic and muscular profile,” Kia says.
The higher roof gives it 22.2 cubic feet of cargo space. That’s more than the Mazda3, though less than the Civic hatchback has to offer.
Perhaps more impressive, the K4 hatchback is 11 inches shorter than the K4 sedan, but preserves the same rear-seat legroom.
A Choice of Engines
Most trim levels come with a 147-horsepower, 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine paired to a continuously-variable automatic transmission (CVT).
An upgraded GT-Line Turbo model instead gets a 1.6-liter turbocharged four good for 190 hp, mated to an 8-speed automatic.
Base models use a simple torsion-beam rear axle, but GT-Line and GT-Line Turbo editions get a sport-tuned multi-link rear suspension to improve handling feel.