Not for the first time, South Korean car maker and Hyundai Motor affiliate Kia will be showing a sports car concept at a major international motor show.
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But there is every indication that this time, the sports coupé concept – being shown at next month’s Frankfurt show – will sometime soon take to the road.
It’s been a mystery why similar previous Kia concepts have turned into production reality given the brand’s ‘younger, sportier’ image over its stablemate Hyundai – which has the well-accepted Coupé in its model line up.
While officially there is no comment, Paul Philpott, managing director at Kia UK, said: “The brand definitely needs a ‘halo’ product to drive it forward. I can’t imagine, either, that we have a new designer who is going to stick to ‘B’ and ‘C’ sector models.”
Especially when that is Peter Schreyer, the man recruited from Audi as Kia’s new chief design officer.
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By GlobalData“As well as being a sports car, there are also some clues to future Kia design – such as the ‘nose’,” added Philpott.
Speaking during the launch of Kia’s new Ceed SW estate car (wagon) variant in Croatia, he added: “We have some more product coming based on the Ceed, including the Proceed three-door early next year, and there is also a small SUV on its way.”
Kia plans to sell around 400 Ceed SW models in the UK before the end of the year and over 1,000 in a full year, according to product manager Amy Wand.
“We are keeping the model range simple with two engines – 1.6-litre petrol and diesel – and two trim grades,” she added.
UK prices range between GBP12,699 (about $US26,000) and GBP14,995 plus between GBP700 and GBP1,000 for higher specification models.
