A first look at the Kia Urban Concept.
Apparently not content with just having the edgy Soul to win over young, urban buyers, Kia apparently is ready to roll out another option for them and will provide a hint of what could be in store in the form of a so far unnamed urban concept vehicle it plans to introduce at the Geneva Motor Show later this winter.
The maker is offering us a first hint of what it has in store with this teaser image, but beyond that it isn’t saying much more, other than to describe the prototype as “a provocative and racy new urban concept car.”
It adds that Kia’s now-familiar tiger-nose front end can be seen “morphing into a mischievous yet friendly grille and headlight arrangement, coupled with strong styling lines that exude speed and energy from every angle.”
A front view of the Kia concept.
It’s no surprise to see Kia bring out a design like this. The broader compact CUV segment is already one of the market’s fastest-growing, sales increasing by about 200% over the last five years, that trend fueled by the steady addition of new products ranging from the Nissan Juke to the likes of the BMW X1.
The choice of Geneva to reveal the Kia urban concept is equally appropriate as sales have soared ever farther and faster in Europe, driven by high fuel costs and crowded urban conditions.
The Kia concept has an almost wagon-like silhouette, but one of the more notable details is the two-door layout. Of course, concepts don’t always fully reveal what a maker has in mind for the production version, so we’ll likely have to wait for the 2013 Geneva Motor Show to find out more.
The Honda Urban SUV Concept.
That includes any plans Kia might have to bring a production model of the urban concept to the U.S. market.
Kia isn’t alone in targeting a distinctly urban buyer, incidentally. Honda’s news conference at the recent North American International Auto Show in Detroit also featured the debut of an urban concept study that very well may appear in production in the near future.