| Kia Concept No.3 | ||
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(Wed 04 Mar 09) More news on the concept car Kia is showing at Geneva, and which was previewed last week. The No.3 - a name which refers to the production version's position in a forthcoming Kia model range - is a small hatchback, just over four metres long, which is also tall enough to be classed as a mini-MPV. It also has a certain amount of MPV thinking inside, not least in the fact that the split rear seats slide and fold individually.
For now it looks distinctly different from other Kias, but that will be decreasingly the case, since the No.3, designed in Frankfurt by Gregory Guillaume, represents the way forward for Kia design. The "constellation" effect of the headlights, front grille and badge is something we'll be seeing a lot more of in future. Less likely to make it into production, perhaps, is the huge amount of glass up top. The panoramic sunroof starts at the top of the windscreen and continues all the way back to the tailgate, interrupted only by a diagonal bar.
As with the new Soul model, the No.3 has been designed to provide a lot of interior space. Kia says that the production model which will follow on from the concept will have an amount of room similar to a C-segment car (such as it's own cee'd) despite having the exterior dimensions of something from the B-segment (such as the Hyundai i20, which may well turn out to be closely related since Hyundai and Kia are part of the same group). Kia is also using Geneva to present the Soul, updated versions of the Sportage SUV and Magentis saloon, as well as ISG (Idle Stop & Go) and hybrid versions of the cee'd. |
