Ahead of its full reveal tomorrow, Kia has taken the covers off the updated 2021 Kia K3 (Cerato/Forte). Aiming to sway prospective customers away from the Hyundai Elantra, the facelifted car sports a more streamlined design all-around.

Slim LED headlights flank Kia's now-thinner signature 'Tiger Nose' grille, now appended with chrome detailing. The front end tweaks - bookended by a redesigned, sharper lower half - makes the car reminiscent of its bigger Kia K5 (Optima) sibling.

It also gets a refresh round the back, with the tail lights now tweaked to match the same dashed-line signatures of the headlights. Slight revisions to the rear bumper, a new wheel design, and new Kia badging complete the exterior. 

Moving inside, the facelift brings in a new infotainment screen and instrument cluster. Other than that, there's a new steering wheel, and gone is the traditional handbrake - in its place is an electric parking brake (EPB).

Also read: Electric parking brake vs manual hand brake vs foot brake, which is better?

Specifications, equipment, and safety features aren't detailed yet. However, it should still keep the pre-facelift's Smartstream 1.6-litre, naturally-aspirated four-cylinder mill that makes 123 PS and 154 Nm, paired to a CVT.

Same goes to the safety features too - the pre-facelift model came with a healthy list of ADAS functions that are most likely to be carried over to the new model:

• Forward Collision Warning (FCW)
• Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)
• Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
• Driver Attention Warning (DAW)
• High Beam Assist (HBA)
• Adaptive Cruise Control (Smart Cruise Control in Kia's parlance)

The facelifted K3 will be hitting South Korean dealerships by the end of this month, but don't hold your breath for it to come to Malaysia so soon (if ever) - new distributor Dinamikjaya have other priorities for the time being.

Also read: Bermaz: CKD Kia Seltos and Carnival not until 2022, priority is to rebuild after-sales