At the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, Kia has pulled the wraps off one of their most beautiful concept cars to date and arguably one of the prettiest cars to grace the German event overall. It’s not a real car as it is a design study, lacking a drivetrain or functioning mechanical/electrical components.
Despite this, it also happens to be one of the least ‘out-there’ cars on display there, adopting a very believable, almost fiendishly practical spin on both the coupe and shooting brake (wagon) body style not far removed from being an actual production car.
Much of the design work and all the crafting it took to create the Proceed was done less than a kilometre away from the Kia booth of the Frankfurt Motor Show, where the Korean marque’s European Design Centre is conveniently located. Regardless, the car that was eventually presented to the world is nothing short of a show stopper.
Given it’s name, it’s clear that Kia means for there to be a through line between this and the successor to their needlessly fiddly-spelt cee’d hatch. Kia admitted as much when they first started to tease it. However, the cee’d is currently sold as either a 3- or 5-door C-segment hatch, and would need to grow quite dramatically in size to realise the vision this concept car projects.
We’re not sure what that means for Kia as a brand, but ostensibly the company is preparing the follow up (and half step upmarket) to the Stinger, furthering the narrative that its now a purveyor of sporty cars that feature engaging handling and sexy styling.
The Lava Red paintwork really accentuate the car’s low and lean stance, propping up what looks to be a single-piece glasshouse that subtly curves all the way to the rear tailgate, requiring a complex week-long stint in the paint shop and involves 19 hand-applied layers of black, chrome-effect silver, and red-tinted lacquer for a most lustrous exterior finish that morphs in tone depending on lighting conditions.
The same deep red treatment follows into the Proceed’s interior too, enveloping the dashboard, centre console, and much of the door trim. The cabin’s control layout has been trimmed to the leave only the absolute minimum. There’s no gear lever or many other knobs to control air conditioning either, just a few ambiguous switches, control wheels, as well as an all-digital instrument cluster and central infotainment screen, both decked out in fittingly futuristic looking interface mockups.
Its seats are….confusing. They don’t show much of it in these early photographs, but they look to be sculpted from a giant mass of pebble-like globs of rubberised material. It’s anyone’s guess if Kia will actually get around to explain their reasoning behind those things, but our guess is that they exist to solely grab attention and not because they’re the best kept secret in cushioning tech.
Also, another ‘feature’ addition the Proceed has are its “Memory Bank” of aromas, as Kia’s engineers feel that the sense of smell is criminally underused. To this end, the car has a flush-mounted shelf within the dashboard that contain three aromas that were selected to appeal any petrolhead.
In their words: “Each of these three engraved flacons contains a scent synonymous with power, passion and performance; aromas that any petrolhead will instantly recognise,” describes Guillaume. “There’s the warm musky smell of aged leather, the oily fragrance of a garage that’s home to a classic car, and the tang of high-octane motorsport fuel. This is about automotive passion and the love of car culture.”
Good luck with that, Guillaume, but let’s stick get back to getting the basics right. The car undeniably is beautiful, though non-functional, so let’s tackle that little issue first and worry about how it smells further down the road.
For more on Kia cars, check out our Showroom.
