Kia green lights GT coupe, considers new sports car

The Kia GT is headed to production.

Kia has reportedly given the production nod to a road-going version of its stylish GT concept car. The Korean automaker is also said to be readying a Mazda MX-5 rival to help support its positioning as a sporty brand.

According to Auto Express, Kia brass has given the green light to build a production version of the GT concept car that debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. However, unlike the concept, which took the form of a four-door coupe, the production GT will be a pure two-door.

The GT concept was based on rear-wheel drive platform, but it's possible that the production car could ride on a front-wheel drive architecture. The Hyundai Genesis Coupe's rear-wheel drive platform hasn't been ruled out as a basis for the GT, however.

Soon-Nam Lee, Kia's vice-president of overseas marketing, says the GT should make production no later than 2017. "We have plans to build a GT - we spoke about it at our global marketing conference in Singapore. We'll be mainly targeting the end of 2016 or early 2017.”

In addition to the GT, Kia also has plans to build an MX-5-rivaling sports car. That car hasn't yet been approved for production, but Kia will test the waters with a concept car at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.