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Kia’s new Stonic compact SUV will be priced between £16,295 and £20,495 when it arrives in UK showrooms on October 23, the brand has revealed.

The first details of the newcomer to the Korean brand’s range will feature five specifications at launch, based on ‘2’ and ‘First Edition’ trim grades, and a choice of three powertrains.

The Stonic will be available with 98bhp 1.4-litre or 118bhp 1.0-litre T-GDi petrol engines and a 108bhp 1.6-litre CRDi turbodiesel.

All models have a six-speed manual gearbox and feature ISG, Kia's intelligent engine stop/start system to prevent fuel being wasted and CO2 from being pumped into the air when the car is stationary in traffic.

Kia said in a statement that it was arriving in the  B-segment CUV/SUV market “at exactly the right time” in a statement issued today.

Annual sales in the B-segment SUV sector across Europe are predicted to double from the 2016 figure of 1.1 million to 2.2 million by 2020.

Kia expects to sell 70,000 units across Europe in 2018, rising steadily to 100,000 a year during the car's lifetime, the UK contributing “at least 10 per cent of the total”, the brand said, adding: “In the UK, B-CUV/SUV sales have risen by 50% since 2014 and are expected to increase by another 40% by 2020.”

Stonic is based on the new Rio supermini and will be built on the same production line at Sohari in South Korea.

The compact SUV is slightly longer than Rio, at 4,140mm, and 70mm taller.

All models will be front-wheel drive as the take-up for all-wheel drive in this sector of the market is only 8%.