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Kia's compact sedan, the Forte, is a pleasantly styled and attractively priced alternative to cars like the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. However, the car lacks the design flair of some of Kia's newer offerings, making it difficult to stand out in its class.

Kia appears to be addressing this shortcoming with a redesign of the Forte, the first prototype of which was spotted.

The prototype points to a sportier fastback design for the new Forte. The new generation also appears to be larger in size, and the designer can be seen attaching the rear door handles to the C-pillar.

The new Forte will be available in the U.S. later this year as a 2025 model and may be called the K4, just as the large sedan Optima was rebranded as the K5 in its latest generation.

The current Forte is sold in other countries as the K3, while Kia has introduced another compact sedan called the K3 in some markets; the K3 is a lower-priced vehicle for developing markets, while the K4 should feature a more premium design both inside and out.

The change to the K4 name would align the redesigned Forte with the EV4 electric hatchback, also in the planning stages; the EV4 was previewed in concept last fall, and the K4 will be a more compact sedan with a more premium interior and exterior.

Exhaust tips on the rear of the prototype confirm that the K4 will be powered by an internal combustion engine: a 2.0-liter four-cylinder or 1.6-liter turbo four-cylinder is the most likely candidate; a hybrid option with a 1.6-liter engine is also possible. The current Forte gets up to 201 hp from a 1.6-liter turbo four.

Stay tuned for updates as development progresses.