2019 Kia Rio

The 2019 Kia Rio’s interior is one of the best in the class. Its cabin is quiet and spacious, the seats are roomy, and the infotainment system is user-friendly. Dashes of upscale design elements further enhance the cabin's handsome styling.

• "Kia does interiors well, and the Rio's is no exception. It's roomier and more upscale inside than you might expect, and even the base LX model has several appealing convenience and tech features. The infotainment screen is well placed near the top of the dash, and the controls for the stereo and air conditioning are logically placed and easy to reach. The LX has a 5-inch touch screen; the S goes one better with a 7-inch touch screen. Additionally, the 2019 Kia Rio boasts lots of handy controls on the steering wheel." -- Kelley Blue Book
• "The inside has … been upgraded, and while hard plastics still abound, it feels very solidly built. The redesigned dash and gauge cluster manage to look upscale as well, so even though the Rio is a budget-priced car, it doesn't feel cheap. We think the interior presents itself better than cars costing thousands more." -- Edmunds (2018)
• "Everything is plastic, mostly of a hard variety. However, the textures are varied and quite attractive. In fact, the leatherette-textured plastic on the dash and doors are pretty convincing until you touch them." -- Autoblog (2018)

Seating

The Rio has pleasant accommodations for five people. Its cabin is quiet, the front seats offer a generous amount of room to stretch out, the rear seat has a decent amount of space, and the seat cushions are comfortable all around.

Cloth upholstery, a six-way adjustable driver's seat, and a tilt-only steering wheel come standard. The uplevel Rio S trim also has a 60/40-split folding back seat.

For child safety seats, the Rio has two complete sets of LATCH child-seat connectors. You may need to fish in the seat cushions a little to find the lower anchors, but the system is otherwise easy to use.

• "Front occupants get more headroom, leg room, and shoulder room while those in the second row receive more leg­ and shoulder room—provided the driver or front passenger is no taller than 6 feet. The front seats are roomy enough to accommodate a 6-foot-2-inch occupant but won't leave any legroom for rear passengers." -- Automobile Magazine (2018)
• "The front seats are comfortable, accommodating and wide enough to give most drivers plenty of breathing room. The driver's seat is also height-adjustable, which means the Rio will fit a wide range of drivers. We liked the seating position, which feels a little lower and sportier than many subcompacts. Thanks to a lowered windowline, outward visibility is excellent, while the steering wheel also has plenty of telescoping range, something taller drivers will greatly appreciate." -- Edmunds (2018)
• "After several hours behind the wheel, there was little to no fatigue. The seats, which have been improved for 2018, offered decent support. The Rio's interior is pleasantly quiet, thanks to some aspects of the new chassis. It was easy to carry on a conversation at normal levels. And the cabin is relatively roomy for a subcompact car." -- Kelley Blue Book (2018)

Interior Features

Both of the Rio's infotainment systems have a straightforward layout and responsive touch screens. The base model comes with a 5-inch touch screen, a four-speaker sound system, Bluetooth, satellite radio, and a USB port. Most automotive journalists favor the uplevel version found in the Rio S, which comes with a 7-inch touch screen, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. Note that satellite radio is not standard in the upgraded system, but it is available as an option.

The Rio also comes standard with a rearview camera, power windows, and air conditioning. Available options include remote keyless entry, cruise control, a USB charging port in the rear, and forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking.

See 2019 Kia Rio specs »

• The controls are wonderfully easy to use, too. The climate control consists of your basic three dials with buttons for defrost and A/C. The touchscreen infotainment is fairly simple, too, and it comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. All of the buttons and switches feel weighty and solid as well. Interestingly, though, navigation is not an option anymore. … Additionally, you'll want to avoid the base model LX due to a dearth of features." -- Autoblog (2018)
• "The 7.0-inch UVO3 infotainment system … [is] quite good. It packs both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and it's a snappy little system that relies on both touch inputs as well as physical buttons flanking the screen. If you've driven any other Kia with UVO, you'll feel at home here immediately." -- CNET (2018)
• "On the tech front, there's a standard six-­speaker stereo with satellite radio, 5.0-inch touchscreen, and a rear­view camera system. The top-­tier EX trim gets a 7.0-inch floating touchscreen, UVO3 voice recognition infotainment system, and smartphone integration through Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Pretty fancy stuff for the sub-compact class and all easy and very intuitive to use." -- Automobile Magazine (2018)

Cargo

The Rio sedan has a 13.7-cubic foot trunk. The hatchback body style has 17.4 cubic feet of cargo space behind the seats, and 32.8 cubic feet total with the rear seats folded flat. Only the Rio S trim comes with a 60/40-split folding back seat.

• " … the cargo area features a flat load floor with a wide liftgate opening and a low liftover height. There's also a new panel shape under the rear load floor to increase chassis strength and reduce road noise." -- Forbes (2018)
• "Cargo room in the sedan sits at 13.7 cubic feet and grows to 17.4 cubic feet for the hatchback. With the seats folded down, the hatchback offers 32.8 cubic feet with a low and flat cargo floor to accommodate lots of cheap stuff." -- Automobile Magazine (2018)
• although bigger than the old Rio, the hatch still has less space than the Chevy Sonic, Honda Fit, Nissan Versa Note, Mitsubishi Mirage and the Toyota Yaris hatchback. The sedan has more cargo space than the Mitsubishi Mirage G4, Ford Fiesta sedan and Toyota Yaris iA, though." -- Autoblog (2018)