Kia completely restyled the front end of the Amanti with a larger, better looking and more contemporary design for the grille, headlamps and driving lamps, with concomitant changes to the hood and fenders. Likewise, the taillamps, rear quarter panels and decklid have been redone, and the rear bumper has been rejiggered to feature dual exhaust tips. Altogether, this is a much, much better looking car than the original Amanti, the XG. It's somewhat reminiscent of the Lincoln Town Car in a smaller size, but the new nose misses out on one of its missions in that it does not contain a Kia logo anywhere.

The fact that it's 250 pounds lighter than its predecessor also counts when it comes to engineering refinement and fuel mileage.