Kia has come a good distance because it first entered the U.S. market many years in the past. In 1993, the yr Kia first entered the market, the Korean carmaker offered simply 212 vehicles.
However Kia stored refreshing its designs. Gross sales grew to only over 237,000 in 2003, a decade after Kia’s U.S debut. It additionally added distinctive options, just like the “tiger nose” grille, conceptualized by then chief designer Peter Schreyer and now a recognizable characteristic of the Korean firm’s vehicles.
Kia offered over 780,000 vehicles within the U.S. final yr. Along with mother or father firm Hyundai, Kia is now one of many nation’s top-selling carmakers, and in addition its top-selling EV producer outdoors of market chief Tesla.
The transition to electrical vehicles is giving Kia one other probability to set itself aside and design a “new type of premium,” says Karim Habib, Kia’s present head of world design.
Habib’s love for vehicles comes by in his dialog with Fortune, praising the “quiet and smooth rides” in a Mercedes-Benz or Rolls Royce, manufacturers that many affiliate with top quality.
EVs give that very same picture, he says. “Our EVs—the EV6 or EV9—have a lot of power but they’re super smooth and serene, so there’s kind of an innate feeling of luxury to it.”
For Habib, an EV’s luxurious really feel comes all the way down to the way it’s constructed. Historically, premium vehicles have a protracted wheelbase and a brief overhang. That’s on account of the place they home the engine, simply behind the entrance axle for efficiency and dealing with functions.
EVs could not have an enormous engine, however they do have an enormous battery. The load of the battery means placing it in between the wheels would lead to higher efficiency and dealing with, giving EVs the identical lengthy wheelhouse and brief overhangs related to premium vehicles.
Courtesy of Kia
“EVs allow us to create, in my view, a very premium experience for people who may not have been able to afford it in the past,” Habib says.
For instance, the Kia EV6, launched in 2022, is an efficient instance. In addition to an evolution to the “tiger nose”, the EV 6 additionally sports activities a protracted wheelbase with a brief overhang. The automotive additionally appears to be like wider and decrease, giving it a sportier really feel. Habib factors out too that the automotive’s natural form is sectioned off on the finish with a tail lamp, creating one thing that’s “jarring,” however distinctive. Since its launch, the EV6 has received over 30 awards, together with the distinguished Pink Dot Design award.
Aspirational however reasonably priced
Kia’s additionally rethinking what a automotive’s inside appears to be like like, now that autos don’t have to create space for an inside combustion engine. Habib explains that enormous batteries push the automotive’s wheels “as much as possible to the corners,” giving designers much more area to work with.
The EV9, for instance, has second row seats that may flip 180 levels to the rear.
It’s half of a bigger technique to redefine what proudly owning a Kia means.
“Aspirational doesn’t have to mean expensive,” he says. “It could mean something you want to spend time with, and it should make your experience more pleasant on a day to day basis.”
Courtesy of Kia
Habib’s work with vehicles stretches again 20 years, beginning at BMW as a manufacturing designer in 1998. He finally grew to become BMW’s head of design in 2012, then took the chief design director place at Infiniti in 2017, then moved to Kia in 2019.
However he admits engaged on EVs has revolutionized how he thinks about vehicles.
“As a designer, it completely has changed my perspective on car design and the possibilities that car design now has,” he says.
Rebrands
However rebranding may be difficult. On Wednesday, Jaguar Land Rover unveiled a brand new model of its brand, spelling the model as “JaGUar.” But commenters derided Jaguar’s video unveiling the brand new model, that includes a number of fashions–and never a single automotive. “Do you sell cars?” Tesla CEO Elon Musk jokingly requested on X in response to the rebrand.
Kia revamped its personal brand in 2021, shifting away from the letters “KIA” in an oval, to a extra dramatic and angular font. The rebrand initially confused shoppers, who learn the emblem as “KN” as an alternative of “Kia”.
Habib admitted that Kia tweaked the emblem’s typography to emphasise the “A” a bit extra after buyer suggestions. However he notes the rebrand was essential for the place the carmaker wished to go.
“A logo should be a symbol that represents who you are, and we changed that to represent the Kia we want to be,” Habib says. “If we hadn’t changed the logo we wouldn’t be designing the cars we’re designing. If you imagine the EV6 or EV9 with the old logo on the hood or in the rear, it just wouldn’t work in my view.”
Fortune’s Brainstorm Design convention is returning on Dec. 5 on the MGM Cotai in Macau. Panelists and attendees will debate and talk about “Experiments in Experience,” designs that blur the road between the bodily and digital worlds to captivate customers and foster lasting connections. Register right here!
