Kia to Drop Sedona Minivan for the 2013MY, but Plans to Return to the Segment

A Kia spokesperson has confirmed plans to drop the Sedona minivan for the 2013 model year from its U.S. lineup.

The news comes about a week after we learned that the South Korean automaker is preparing a common replacement for the Sedona's short-wheelbase sibling, the Carnival, and the smaller Carens MPV, neither of which are offered in the States.

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Kia Preparing a Common Replacement for Carnival and Carens MPVs, New Procee'd will Debut in Paris

Despite the ongoing economic woes of Europe, Kia is not backing down on its goal to boost sales in the Old Continent by an impressive 20.7 percent to 350,000 vehicles this year, following an already high 10.7 percent increase last year.

And that's not all as Paul Philpott, Kia Europe's Chief Operating Officer, told Autonews Europe that the company aims to reach annual sales of 400,000 vehicles by 2013.

Kia plans to do this with the launch of several key models, including the all-new Cee'd five-door hatchback this month and the Cee'd Estate in September.

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Carensformer: Kia Mocks Transformers With Carens (Ronda) Ad

Inspired from the blockbuster movie Transformers, Kia created a series of short films dubbed “Carensformers” for the Korean market in order to increase the brand awareness of the Carens MPV which is known as the Rondo in the U.S. and other international markets. Too bad the French carmaker Citroen had the same idea (see here) more than a year ago...