Modern Cars: kia

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2011 Kia Forte Hatchback

Kia Optima 2011

Kia Pop concept

We talk, wistfully at times, about cars that capture the zeitgeist. This is what Kia has done in Paris. It's yet more evidence that, under Peter Schreyer's watch, Kia is a force to be reckoned with. One also suspects that some of the conceptual thinking evident here could only come from the young, tuned-in design team that has been nurtured in the Frankfurt studio this concept heralds from.
It's not completely original. We've seen electrically powered, sub-three meter city cars before. Yet ones whose development is design-led, successfully creating a 'lite' aesthetic of the brand's design language, junking big-car complexity and avoiding the realm of the toy-like, are rare.
The decisively none-automotive form language courts a generation of urban dwellers questioning the cars of today and the social baggage that goes with them. Instead of 'big-car' features, there's a strategy of clarity and simplicity. The lozenge theme of the DLO, windscreen (which flows back to form the roof) and door handles carries into the interior with a minimal IP featuring an advanced transparent-OLED display. Simple stop-go pedals underline the delivery of a simple "twist'n go" driving experience. This underlying simplicity of the interior highlights the flourishes – purple upholstery, asymmetric bench front seat inspired by 60s furniture design, etc.
After the resolutely symmetric aesthetic of the front and profile view, the asymmetric rear window (base tapering at an angle inverse to the top of the bench seat backrest) neatly indexes the offset number plate and is flanked by simple, pointillist arrays of LEDs which form the rear light graphic. They're not equal either – six LEDs deep one side, eight the other.
Finished in dark chrome, were it ever to see a city street, the Pop would acquire the kind of patina that would enhance, rather than detract from the car's character over time. All told, we observed not only a very appropriate car for today's city, but one that's a lot more relevant than what the French firms (long time bottler of the small car genie) are presenting at the show.

Kia Sportage 2011

Kia Sportage Mild Hybrid 2011

Kia POP electric mini car Wallpaper

New Photos of Kia's Paris Show Mini Car Concept Pop Up

Kia has let loose new photos of its POP electric mini car concept a week ahead of its scheduled world premiere at the 2010 Mondial de l'automobile in Paris. The overly futuristic looking study for a small electric vehicle was penned by Kia's European design team under the direction of Peter Schreyer, Kia's Chief Design Officer, and Gregory Guillaume, the firm's Chief Designer in Europe.

"A concept car like the POP could only have come from us," says Gregory Guillaume. "Designers very rarely have the opportunity to start from a clean sheet of paper and it's great to be in a position to operate with such freedom."

That freedom translates into a car measuring just three meters in length, or 15mm longer than the Toyota / Scion iQ, with swinging front doors and seating for three with a couch-like front bench seat and a side-mounted single seat at the back, which looks perfect for junior 'time out' or to revenge your mother-in-law.

The South Korean maker is keeping a tight lid on other details.

The POP Concept car will share Kia's Paris motorshow stand with a number of production models including the new Optima sedan that will make its Euro debut before going on sale in select European countries this year. Kia said sales throughout Western Europe will commence in 2011. The EU-spec Optima will be offered with a choice of two powerplants, a 1.7-liter turbo diesel with 136-horsepower and a 2.0-liter gasoline engine delivering 170-ponies.

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