Kia pro_cee’d concept car previews all-new Kia cee’d hatch to launch in 2007

The custom of Asian manufacturers giving ridiculous names to their export offerings was taken to new levels today by Korean auto manufacturer Kia in naming its latest concept car the pro_cee’d, complete with an underscore and apostrophe. Set for a Paris Motor Show debut later this month, the strikingly styled, pro_cee’d showcar is based on the forthcoming three-door ‘sporty hatch’ version of the all-new Kia cee’d C-segment model. This five-door family hatchback has its world premiere (in production-ready form) at Paris and will be manufactured at Kia’s first European assembly plant in Slovakia from November 2006.

“Following on from the original cee’d concept car we exhibited at the Geneva Show earlier this year, our design brief for pro_cee’d was to create a ‘teaser’ for the all-new Kia cee’d ‘sporty hatch’ which will become the third model in the cee’d line-up (after the five-door and wagon) from December 2007,” explained Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer Kia, European Design Centre.

When Kia’s designers created the cee’d ‘sporty hatch,’ they set out to maximise the differentiation between the five-door and three-door cee’d models as much as possible, without losing the family likeness.

Exterior - the same, but strikingly different

Consequently, the pro_cee’d actually looks very similar to Kia’s new cee’d ‘sporty hatch’ model with its dynamic, muscular and masculine nature.

“Colour plays an important role in generating the bold image of the pro_cee’d concept. We call the exterior colour ‘Cashew’ and it is a daring colour for a showcar,” observed Guillaume. “It looks almost solid, but does have a small percentage of metal flakes that give a discreet sparkle. I think the colour works well in contrast with the bright metal and dense matt black elements of the exterior like the door mirrors and the special road wheels, and shows off the car’s solid forms to perfection.”

The wheels are a two-part design, featuring five double-spokes arranged with a recessed black power-coated centre and brightly polished convex perimeter spokes. These dramatic wheels sport 265/30 R19 low profile tyres.

Key attributes which the pro_cee’d and ‘sporty hatch’ models will have in common include the lowered roof line (down by 25 mm compared to the five-door cee’d) and shallower side windows ringed in chrome trim that create a robustly sporty window graphic.

Interior - creating a strong ‘performance’ feeling

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