2021 Kia Niro

The 2021 Kia Niro comes with as much as five trim levels with the prices starting from just under 25 grand and going all the way up to $32,790. The base LX trim kicks off the ball at $24,590, whereas the top-of-the-line EX Premium brings a heated front-row cushion, seats, and seatback, heated mirrors, park assist, and 16-inch alloy wheels to the table for just $32,950. The complete distribution of features across the five trims is given below.

Which Trim should you buy?

The mid-tier Touring seems to be the most value for money proposition here. It gets partial leather upholstery, sunroof, and fog lights, all while staying under the 30 grand mark. If you are really on a budget, just don’t opt for any optional features as they tend to get a bit expensive and Kia offers a lot of them.

The most frugal car here is the Kia Niro, being rated at 53 mpg city, 48 highway, and 50 combined. This definitely sets the category benchmarks since no other car is offered with a hybrid powertrain. Combined with a tiny 11.9-gallon fuel tank, the Kia Niro returns exceptional range figures of 631 miles in the city, 571 miles on the highway, and 595 miles combined.

The Niro, being the only one here that is a hybrid, makes it the most fuel-efficient car here. That certainly gave the Niro quite an advantage over the others. Even though the fuel tank is small, it offers close to 600 miles of driving range. The Fiat 500X offers the least fuel efficiency figures and is quite unimpressive in terms of range as well. Both Honda and Toyota sit quite close to each other in this department.

This has got to be one of the most desirable points to talk about in 2021 Kia Niro. The interior design is literally a cut above and feels like it is from a car much more premium than the Niro. It is designed beautifully with the use of high-quality plastics and leather at places where you’ll like it. Leather appointments enter the mix starting on the mid-level Touring trim, but even the fanciest Niro features synthetic upholstery. We genuinely loved the big slab of piano black plastic running across the width of the cabin and housing the infotainment display and AC vents. It is just one very seamless design integration and makes the overall dashboard look a lot less cluttered and is very easy to the eyes.

The seats are also very lovely and supportive. The feel and texture are quite nice, and being comfortable on these is rather easy. The seats are 6-way power-adjustable for both the driver and front passenger. The Niro is more like a tall crossover than a hatchback, so the upright seating position also helps while driving, and that gives you a towering feeling. Rear seats pretty much like all the cars in this segment are best suited for two adults. Three can sit here as the Niro is quite a wide car, but those journeys would be better kept short. 

The Niro has a decently sized 19.4 cu. ft. of boot space, and though this is not a lot, it will be rather enough for carrying a weekend worth of luggage for four occupants. While the Toyota is the longest car here, it certainly is the one with the smallest cabin. The Niro is undoubtedly the most spacious among all in both the front row and the second row. The Honda HR-V shows the most practicality by offering the best cargo space of 24.3 cubic feet. Standout interior features include:

• Leather upholstery
• Dual-Zone Automatic Temperature Control 
• Interior Lamps with Delay
• Cloth Seat Trim
• 6-Way Adjustable Driver's Seat
• 6-Way Adjustable Passenger's Seat

What’s there to keep you entertained?

Flaunting the beautifully designed dashboard, there is an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display as standard in the 2021 Niro. But things start to get quite serious once you opt for the optional 10.3-inch display which looks absolutely gorgeous. The color reproduction, punchiness, and saturation of the display are just amazing. It comes preloaded with navigation in upper trims which have adaptive cruise control. The audio system available with the car is more or less just average. Standout infotainment features include:

• 8-inch touchscreen display
• Wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay
• 6-speaker audio system
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Rear-View Camera w/ Dynamic Parking Guidelines
• Steering-Wheel-Mounted Audio, Hands-Free Phone, and Cruise Control Buttons

For 2021 MY, Kia has done a few tweaks to the exterior, which are quite subdued and chances are near to zero that you’ll be able to spot them. It is quite an athletic-looking car, and we certainly love the way it looks, especially from the front. The big frog-eyed headlamps with sharp DRLs and projector lamps look quite purposeful. Vertically stacked LED fog lamps in the arrow-styled housing look quite good as well. 

The signature Kia grille has a different mesh design in the 2021 Niro, and we are not really sure about what to say about it. There is just enough amount of chrome used, and that makes the overall design look rather elegant. The rear profile might not be the most attractive angle to look at the car, and also, there is some stark similarity between the design of Niro and a certain British compact crossover. 

Dimensions wise, all the cars more or less are in the same ballpark. The 2021 Niro is the second-longest here, after the Toyota, but one thing is that the Toyota has longer overhangs and lesser interior space, and that can be well judged by the wheelbase. The Kia has the longest wheelbase here, although the Kia rides quite low and thus has the smallest height among all. Standout exterior features include: 

• LED headlamps and tail lamps
• 18-inch wheels
• Roof Rails
• Body Claddings
• Fog lamps
• Body-colored side mirrors with turn-signal indicators
• Power sliding sunroof

Overall, the 2021 Niro has performed quite well in all the crash tests it was subjected to. IIHS has rated the car “Good” in all the tests including the small overlap front tests. However, NHTSA has a different story to tell. While the car did quite well for the side crash tests and received “5 stars” there, the front and the rollover scores are a mere “4 stars.”

The car comes with autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, blindspot monitoring, and adaptive cruise control, but they are not standard fitments in the lower trim cars, and that is where the Kia Niro loses a few points in our tally. Otherwise, the car comes with 6 airbags, ABS, EBD, TCS, tire pressure monitoring system, and brake assist. Standout safety features include: 

• Tire Pressure Monitor
• Brake Assist
• Stability Control
• Traction Control
• Autonomous Emergency Braking
• Lane Departure Warning
• Blindspot Monitoring

2021 Kia Niro vs 2021 Toyota C-HR

The Toyota C-HR is more like a wannabe car. While the Kia uses a rather conventional styling with not a lot of drama and has played it safe with the looks, the C-HR is just opposite to it with quirky styling and adding drama wherever possible. The C-HR is also quite cheaper than the Niro, and while it doesn’t feel as premium as the Niro from the inside, it is still more powerful than the Niro and also has Toyota’s reliability card in its armor.

2021 Kia Niro vs 2021 Honda HR-V

The Honda HR-V is for those who want to play it safe or for the people who don’t want to explore the market a lot and just want to get home after a quick purchase. No, we aren't saying that it’s a bad thing, but the HR-V certainly looks a bit depressing to us. It is by far the least exciting vehicle both inside and outside in this comparison, and while we agree that it is more practical and spacious than the Niro in some aspects, it just doesn't make you feel rather special.

2021 Kia Niro vs 2021 Fiat 500X

Maybe the most non SUV looking car in the bunch, the 2021 Fiat 500X is certainly a very attractive package and also a very desirable car. The old-school design might not be for a lot of people, but the performance that the 500X offers for the price asked makes the car a very good option. It has a very distinct approach to how the crossovers should look, and if you love being unique and love Italian flavors, then the Fiat 500X is certainly the one for you.

The Niro is due for an update, and we are suspecting that the update is going to arrive soon. But even then, if you are in the market right now to buy a compact crossover, the 2021 Kia Niro should be on your shortlist. It looks gorgeous, has a wonderfully laid-out cabin, and is extremely fuel-efficient as well. The Niro is also among the most spacious cars in this price bracket, and while it is a four-year-old product now, it certainly doesn’t look like one.