Kia engineers specific smells just for Europeans
While some people love "that new car smell", others are more worried about the health dangers of breathing in the noxious VOCs. Oddly enough, not all noses are created equally. It seems that, like their cars, European sniffers are tuned a bit differently than the schnozes in Korea. Accordingly, before Kia introduces new models into the European market, interior components are sealed up in jars and sent to Europe to be smell-tested. The ideal Euro-smell is apparently difficult to define (we imagine it assaults the nostrils like a hunk of Limburger), but Kia has "developed odors for the car's interior that were pleasing to Europeans," according to David Labrosse who hails from Kia's European Research and Development Center. If an objectionable odor is found, a sample is heated up to locate the source of the sordid scent, at which time, the offending ingredient is eliminated. This is certainly a case where the nose knows.
NOTE: Despite being sourced from a UK news outlet (again, the Brits are known pranksters on this particular day of the year), we actually don't think is an April Fools joke.
[Source: What Car]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I_Hate_China 4:12PM (4/01/2008)
This is not an April Fool's joke. Kia is bending backward to please European shoppers.
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Disgruntled Goat 4:35PM (4/01/2008)
Gawd I love that new car smell.
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John P. 4:44PM (4/01/2008)
Strange enough, my old Ford Festiva, (a kia) had a terrible smell when it was new. Worst new car smell EVER!
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Mr2CV 5:05PM (4/01/2008)
I bet the smell is a Nutella crepe...
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Dieter 1:02PM (4/02/2008)
@Mr2CV - ROFL!
Our Kia Sportgage is now 3 years old and still (suffers!) from their new car smell. Hmmmm.
Richard S. 5:18PM (4/01/2008)
What's wrong with the current European Kia's smell? Do they smell like Stinky Tofu?
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psarhjinian 5:22PM (4/01/2008)
Cologne and stale gauloises.
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John 9:07AM (4/02/2008)
Korean leather seats smell like a wet dog. Thats probably the leftovers from all the dogs they eat.
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John 1:07PM (4/02/2008)
I remember from auto shows that Hyundais used to have a terrible smell up until the mid 1990s or so. I no longer smell that odor in Hyundais or Kias anymore.
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