Kee to Kia's future

The man who moulded VW and Audi in his image, including cars such as the latest Golf, Audi TT and R8, is the chief design officer of Kia Motors Corporation.

Peter Schreyer's influence is evident in his Kee Concept, unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. He says the grille style will become the face of Kia.

The Kee 2+2 coupe, designed at Kia's Frankfurt design centre, looks like a hot-rodded chopped and channelled R8 with its low roof line and sleek body.

Kee stands for “key” and acknowledges the Chinese and Korean word Ki, the cultural concept for life force.

Schreyer says the Kee represents a new ethos for Kia and is not a flight of design fancy. “This car stands as an indication of Kia's design philosophy,” he says. “It is how Kia wishes to be viewed: exciting, appealing, creative, aspirational, with products that are beautiful and functional, purposeful and realistic. It will influence every Kia to come and (shows) that Kia embraces the future.”

Kee has an aluminium B-pillar visible through panoramic grey-tinted glass, 20-inch wheels, hand-cut 240mm low-profile tyres, an electronic micro-switch door release in the side-window and a clamshell rear-hatch opening supported by electronic dampers. It is powered by a 2.7-litre V6 engine with 150kW of power.

Kee sports semi-suede microfiber seats, a square-bottomed steering wheel and a computer mouse-like lever that flips up to reveal the electronic starter button. The instrument cluster is illuminated in red-orange.

The steering wheel has paddles to shift the six-speed semi-automatic sequential gearbox. The gear stick has been replaced by a lever, which is nudged forward or backward to select drive mode.

 Question: what do you think of this bold new design for Kia? Leave your comments below.