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Frankfurt Preview: Kia releases second tease of Sports Coupe Concept
Click image for gallery
While there's absolutely no new information to go along with it, a second teaser image of Kia's Frankfurt-bound Sports Coupe Concept has found its way onto the web. Following up the exotic front-end view shown in July, the profile shot above reveals a shape that, at first look, seems less swoopy as we would have expected. The curved roof extends pretty far back before angling back down, making for more practical if less dramatic packaging for the 2+2. A pronounced shoulder over the rear wheel hints at muscle, though we have no idea what the powertrain in this concept consists of yet. The design study is said to offer a window into Kia's design future, and we're curious to see what this thing looks like when all the shadows are gone and it's basking under the lights on the IAA show floor.
UPDATE: Reader "pixelcut" has photoshopped away more of the shadows, revealing the lower portion of the car in greater detail. Follow the jump to see that view and the official press release that accompanied the second teaser shot.
[Source: Kia]
Gallery: Kia Sports Coupe Concept
PRESS RELEASE:
Kia Sports Coupe Concept heralds new look
Kia Motors Corporation has released a second 'preview image' of the concept car it will unveil at the Frankfurt International Motor Show on 11 September.
Shown in profile, the svelte Sports Coupe Concept reveals classic lines coupled with a lengthened cabin design that can accommodate four adults in comfort.
Designed in Europe, under the guidance of Kia's Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, the all-new 2+2 Sports Coupe Concept, whose name remains a secret at present, will demonstrate an uncluttered, pure and timeless execution and represents a new design ethos for the Korean automotive company.
"The new Sports Coupe Concept is a clear and emphatic statement that the future of the Kia brand is set to be one that will excite and surprise an entirely new audience of consumers," commented Peter Schreyer.
"In making this design departure for Kia it was essential to my thinking that we did not lose sight of the fact that the Kia brand must continue to appeal to customers in the mainstream. It would have been easy to present an extreme supercar at Frankfurt that would attract plenty of attention, but could have no place in Kia's future. Our Sports Coupe Concept is not simply a flight of fancy.
"I believe this concept car could be a 'landmark' vehicle in Kia's history and I wanted it to appeal to the widest possible audience. This design is not the result of self-indulgent design excess. It incorporates a host of elements that will become the new face-of-Kia right across our product range and it is the clearest design statement about the way I want Kia to be seen as we go forwards," added Schreyer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cody Peterson 3:31AM (8/14/2007)
It used to be that Korean cars were a total joke.. but the tides are beginning to turn, especially with Hyundai.
Even just a few years ago, I would have never wanted to even sit in a Hyundai... now, however, I am looking at their sporty accent se and their upcoming RWD coupe and thinking, hmm, Toyota/Honda who?
Plus if it does break, they have a 10 year / 100,000 mile warranty.... I don't care who you are, but the car has to have some quality to it to at least be able to fulfill these claims
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Dylan 4:24AM (8/14/2007)
Its like an audi A3 cept it will fall apart before you have a chance to tell somone its an audi while shamefully standing infront of the kia logo.
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jsjs 1:59PM (8/14/2007)
Kia hasn't undergone the quality control as much as Hyundai has - but it's not like Audi's reliability is that much better (Kia, btw, is currently more reliable than VW).
pixelcult 4:51AM (8/14/2007)
A quick shadow/highlight correction shows a bit more of the concept here: http://tinyurl.com/2xmdop
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tbirdkatz 4:52AM (8/14/2007)
It seems to me to be a decent idea. I don't know why everybody hates the KOreans. I guess you all don't know that GM and Daewoo are now big partners and that Hyundai makes very decent cars at cheap prices. I agree w/ the post above. None of the Korean car companies would be making money if their cars were POSs. 10 years, 100k miles sounds almost as good as the lifetime from Chrysler, and it's much better than GM or Ford can do. This ain't 1998. Korean cars are actually well built autos that are very inexpensive and are actually considered competitors buy the big guys now.
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javier.e.trevino 6:55AM (8/14/2007)
Hey you can't spell kinda with out KIA.. as in.. it KIndA looks like an audi.. or it KIndA looks cool.. ha ha.. just kidding .. I like where KIA is heading.. I like to see the underdogs start showing a little movement in the right direction...
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vicubs 7:46AM (8/14/2007)
I can only hope it is available in the Philippines. :-)
http://vicubs.wordpress.com
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Snark 8:41AM (8/14/2007)
Well, it doesn't look like anything else, and it's definitely got some interesting design language going. Something almost shooting brake-ish about it. I REALLY look forward to seeing it in the metal.
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Elliott 9:18AM (8/14/2007)
A big problem witht the Hyundai is that they copy other people's designs. If you take pictures of the same part of every vehicle in a segment you will notice that the Hyundai one is an exact replica of one of the competitors (usually Toyota). I don't mean derivative or taking someone else's idea and improving it. I mean identical.
Also, it costs more to make their vehicles because of their inefficient engineering; yet, they sell them for less. That makes me very suspicious of their labor practices and government subsidies.
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XJ 11:43PM (8/14/2007)
The only country you need to be suspicious about is Japan. Korea is continually losing money in the U.S. market because of the appreciation of the won against dollar. Hence, at one point some of their vehicles were actually priced higher than their Japanese counterpart. Meanwhile, the Japanese purposely deflate their currency to gain a competitve advantage in the U.S., and they put such high tariffs on imports to their country to the point of absurdness.
http://autoyensubsidy.org/
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200708/200708090009.html1
Christopher H. Kim 12:10PM (8/14/2007)
ROFLMAO @ Elliot
Tell me any Toyota or Honda or any Jap cars that are 100% alike like Hyundai.
Auto manufacturers maybe borrow/use some styling CUES however even if they do that, it is never totally identical.
Open your eyes
Elliott 1:11PM (8/14/2007)
I am not saying that this looks like any other vehicle; I am saying that specific parts are directly copied. For example, if you take a picture of the back of the driver's seat of a Charger, Avalon, Taurus/500, Impala, and Azera and compare your photos it will look like you have two copies of the Avalon photo.
The map pocket on the back of the Azera seat is direct plagerism of Toyota's. However, if you compare these parts you will find that Toyota has used the most effiicient method possible of producing that part, where as Hyundai has replicated it with unnecessarily thicker plastic. the Hyundai part will cost more (because it wastes more material) but the overall price of the car is cheaper. How?
You can take other parts of the car and you will find the same thing. The glovebox latch, the armrests, the way the trunk carpet fits, engine mounts, etc. etc.
You will not notice this looking at the overall vehicle or this photo which lays out the basic design, but if you photograph each individual part and pull it from context then you will find that the Hyundai part is a lazily engineered duplicate of a competitor.
I think that a couple of questions need to be answered: 1) How can a car that contains inefficient parts be priced lower than competitors that make sure that there is no excess material wasted?
2) How can a company that is copying the parts of competitors ever leapfrog their competitors?
I didn't mean to wind people up and be misinterpreted as one of the many commentors that are constantly saying "Car X is a copy of Car Y and company X is so much better". But I am curious about Hyundai's methodology. Perhaps they think that exciting sheet metal, like the illustration in this post, will distract people from looking at specific parts.
ryan 4:18PM (8/14/2007)
1. it's cheaper to produce because labor over there is priced differently. it'll be a different ballgame when kia's plant in west point georgia is finished, but until then, labor is cheaper in korea. hence cheaper prices. also, kia has done a good job of jumping on the technical bandwagon as far as development of product goes, saving steps and money compared to bigger players.
2. i agree on this point entirely. when you make a niche of copying others, you're going to have a tough time coming out of that rut, and it's going to be awhile before people shed the image of kia's and hyundai's as knockoffs (just like them shedding the image of their cars as heavy and inefficient, which still lingers, along with their perceived questionable history of engineering).
however, my focus has the engine mounts in darn near the same place as the spectras, as well as the intake, battery location, and exhaust. there's only two or three real ways to do it correctly, and i'm sure it keeps their costs down by taking a page out of the "how to do it" book.
but i'm not here to argue these small points. i'm here to say i like this cars looks, regardless if they copied the engine mounts and layout from a whatever.
even the weird back windshield is a growing on me. that color, however, has to go. give me a nice dark blue or grey and i'm there.
ryan 11:10AM (8/14/2007)
@ dylan...
an audi s3? i don't see it. and someone seems to be forgetting about audi's inability to produce any sort of decent electrical systems for their cars, hence audi being below the industrial average of problems per 100 cars on JD power. granted, kia's there as well, but i'd rather be backed by a warranty that'll fix what happens before i pay for an audi. you could probably get 2 of these for the price of an audi S3.
and shamefully standing in front of a kia logo? if this has half the go it's should have, you'll be BEHIND that kia logo pretty quick.
@ elliot...
again, i don't really see what toyota product you're insinuating it looks like. did you post the same thing when the new WRX was launched and chime in the same thing about it looking just like a camry? when was the last time you were in a kia showroom?
when honda and toyota came over from japan, i bet you two were avid honda and toyota buyers. no? oh, wait, that's right, just like them, kia had a developmental time where they did hit a lot of bumps and false starts. it's normal in such a huge market to be cautious and mess things up. but even honda is still cautious with design (look at the vanilla segment accord), and toyota makes no cars i would be interested in from a design point of view.
plus, with the addition of schreyer at design, he gets the envyable job of CREATING a look for an entire product design with little history to draw from. hello fresh slate. hello everything we at autoblog desire: fresh new cars with a good look, not a knockoff.
yeah, kia's and hyundai's put other cars in their sites for their development, and, yes, they did do their fair share of copying. but i honestly think that point is in the past, and we'll see within five years if i'm correct.
but, back on topic. i'll buy this easily. especially if they can pull of an AWD or RWD platform with their ESC standard, 6 airbags, 6 speed, and give it the nards to play with some of the big boys. the only one of those top requirements that they may not do is the AWD or RWD platform and an engine powerful enough to motivate it, and that would kill this cars market.
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BB 1:44PM (8/14/2007)
The design work of renowned audi designer peter schryder. Good job, can't wait to see it for real. BTW bring the Kia ceed over! I'll buy one.
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jsjs 2:16PM (8/14/2007)
Couldn't quite get Elliot's babbling.
Anyway, while I really like the front facia, can't quite decide if I like the side profile (it certainly is different).
If this ever makes it to production, I just hope Kia doesn't bland it down as much as it and other manufacturers have done with other models.
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Arnkle Jark 6:45PM (8/14/2007)
Hello. the dealership sales staff told me this may be a FWD model, since they heard, at least for the next few years, Hyundai will have the RWD spots coupe, RWD Genesis, etc, and Kia will remain AWD(like Sorento) and FWD cars,to keep them somewhat apart.
I HOPE SO... I like FWD....I tried driving in a 77 Camaro once, in 6 inches of snow, with snow tires, then a few months later that winter( 1987..had the car used) got a FWD car...and MAJOR DIFFERENCES!
I don't care what electronics RWD has today.... for stability, etc... FWD or AWD for dauily driver, or forget it, for me.
Here's Hoping this is Kia's version of the (current)Tiburon(FWD) but tweaked for better performance, lighter in weight, etc.
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