Watch out, hot hatches of the world, the Koreans are coming. There's about to be a new kid on the block, and it's called the Kia Pro cee'd GT.
We've known for a while that parent company Hyundai has been working on a new series of direct-injection turbopetrol engines, complete twin-scroll turbochargers and continuously variable timing on both camshafts.
The first to go public was a 1.6-litre version that's slated for an upgraded version of the Veloster three-door early in the new year, for which Hyundai quotes outputs of 152kW at 6000rpm and 265Nm at 1750rpm - putting it right up there with the Golf 7 GTI.
PRO CEE'D WITH BIG BRASS ONES
Now it gets even scarier for the GTI's of this world: Kia has confirmed that it will launch a testicularly-enhanced derivative of the second-generation Pro cee'd at the 2013 Geneva show, with the same engine.
The Pro cee'd GT will be launched in both three and five-door formats, it says, with a possible estate version to follow.
A lot of hot hatch fans have speculated about what would happen if the Kia skunk works at Russelsheim in Germany dropped a seriously nasty prime mover into the Eurocentric Pro cee'd. Now it looks if we are about to find out.