Last week, we had to perform a number of mental equations to grasp at what Kia was up to with their newest concept, destined for the intense scrutiny and exposure under the lights at the Frankfurt Motor Show in the mid-month.
Thankfully, there’s a little more of it to chew on until the big day next week. First of all, we have a new but familiar name: Proceed. It, also thankfully, ditches the quite useless apostrophe that Kia furnished their c’eed and would later be grafted on to the sportier Pro_c’eed hatch in 2013.
Kia is obviously looking to down in the direction of wagon or shooting brake body style for the car this concept might eventually evolve into. Further, by emphasising it as the Proceed, it indicates that the Korean automaker sees potential in separating the two variants into individual models. And we agree.
We also very much agree on the “rakish roofline, muscular proportions, and compact footprint” that Kia describes it. It’s accurate, and while somewhat boastful aren’t far from their objective definitions. Kia’s European Design Centre, which is also in Frankfurt and just some 500 metres from where the car is due to be unveiled, did a bang up job here.
The profile is low, making the car look quite wide, with an obscured C-pillar that they term as the ‘Sharkblade’ and the seeming lack a B-pillar separating the front and rear doors. The roofline slopes elegantly to the absolute rear where it’s met by a single-piece LED strip tail light.
Up front, the Tiger Nose grille design that’s now ubiquitous on Kia’s present-day line-up returns here, though its more accentuated curves do more justice to it actually resembling a tiger’s nose, dare we say more effectively than any other Kia model before it. Slim headlights each housing 5-piece illuminators and carbon fibre accented intakes round it out. The wheels too, look rather stunning, especially given the car’s low height and custom Kumho tyres with sidewall decal.
We haven’t yet had a peek at what the interior might have in store, but we expect it to be not too far removed from the cabin concepts of today, albeit dressed up to look more minimal and future-facing. It’s the same story with any possible powertrain details that might come to light; that’s it would likely be powered by a conventional petrol engine, perhaps even the same 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 that’s slotted into the Stinger, but supplemented by a more sophisticated electrical architecture, transmission-integrated electric motor, and modest bank of lithium-ion cells.
Come September 12th, we’ll have more on the Proceed Concept following it’s full debut in Germany.
For more on Kia, check out our Showroom.
