IT'S longer, lower and wider - and all ready to make a bid for sales in one of the toughest family car sectors across Europe.

But the all new Kia Magentis will make its debut at the New York Auto Show next month - at least a year before it is is due to be launched in Britain to challenge the Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Insignia.

Regarded as the next step in ambitious plans to turn the South Korean firm into one of the world's major car brands by the end of the decade, the mid-size saloon is to go on sale in the US later this year.

Using a longer wheelbase, it is claimed to have a bigger interior and a bigger luggage area than its predecessor.