THE fourth-generation of Kia's global best seller, the Rio, has just gone on sale in the UK with prices starting at £11,995.

The Rio will now be sold as a five-door model only and there are ten versions in three trim grades - badged 1, 2 and 3 with a limited-run First Edition model as the top of the range, priced at £17,445.

It comes with high-tech new engines, improved fuel efficiency and emissions, greater space and the introduction of state-of-the-art connectivity and driver assistance systems.

All models have air conditioning and Grade 1 versions include front electric windows with an automatic function on the driver's side, remote locking, electrically adjustable heated door mirrors, a 3.8-inch display screen, Bluetooth, automatic light control, bi-function projection headlamps and cornering lights and LED daytime running lights.

It also comes with steering wheel-mounted audio controls and 60:40 split rear seats. A four-speaker audio system is standard, while safety provisions include electronic stability control, vehicle stability management and hill-start assist control.

Grade 2, with a starting price of £13,745, comes with additional kit including 15-inch alloys, leather-trimmed steering wheel and gearshift, electric windows at the rear as well as the front, electric folding mirrors with LED indicator lights, a digital DAB radio, a five-inch colour display screen, a six-speaker audio system, a reversing camera and rear parking sensors, cruise control and autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning systems.

Top of the range is the Rio 3 1.4 CRDi six-speed manual ISG which costs £17,245.

Kia's 1.0-litre T-GDi petrol engines are offered in the Rio for the first time and head a seven-strong powertrain line-up which shows improvements in fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions over the outgoing model.

They join revised versions of Kia's 1.25-litre and 1.4-litre petrol engines and two versions of the European-designed and European-built 1.4-litre CRDi turbodiesel.

Emissions for the latest run from 92g/km to 140g/km and the 1.4 diesel is the most economical rated at 89.7mpg.

Globally, the Rio is Kia's best-seller, with sales close to 475,000 a year, and while it is overshadowed in the UK by the European-built Sportage crossover and cee'd range, it accounts for almost one-sixth of the company's sales in the UK which last year hit a new high of almost 90,000.