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

The pro_cee’d interior is designed to accommodate four people and is trimmed to give a strong ‘performance’ feeling with deeply matt surfaces. Like the exterior, the cab uses bright metal and dense matt black elements, but in the interior these appear to ‘float’ amidst areas of contrasting leather trim.

In the earlier Geneva Kia cee’d showcar this ‘floating’ effect was one of elegant sophistication, in the pro-cee’d the feeling inside the cabin is very different, bolder, tougher and more racy. The four seats feature bucket-style backrests with aluminium alloy mountings for the head restraints.

Facing the driver, the three recessed dials of the instrument panel have separate metal cowlings set beneath a top cowling that also appears to ‘float’ above the dashboard. The short, leather-shrouded gear lever is set in a bright metal surround topping a black centre console that rises between the front seats to position a battery of minor switchgear within easy reach of the driver.

The dense matt black trim of the upper dashboard is continued around the upper sides of the cab. The lower panels are trimmed in special ‘distressed’ leather that has a black/brown patina, the quality of an old flying jacket ? “leather with a history and a story to tell…” as Guillaume enthuses.

Designed in Europe, made in Europe, for younger, sporty Europeans

The pro_cee’d creative process began in April when Kia’s multi-national design team at Russelsheim, under design chief Gregory Guillaume, signed-off work on the production Kia cee’d ‘sporty hatch’ turned its talents towards the Paris showcar.

“Like the five-door cee’d, which has its world premiere at Paris, the new cee’d ‘sporty hatch’ will be a truly European product, designed in Europe and made in Europe. But whereas the five-door is a great handling family car, this version of cee’d will be targeting younger drivers in search of a more overtly sporty look to go with the sporty drive,” observed Guillaume.

“With pro-cee’d we are accelerating Kia’s drive towards design excellence and once more demonstrating its ‘tough not rough’ design ethic. We have seized the opportunity of the Paris Show to create a ‘teaser’ car that really will build eager anticipation of future Kia models,” concludes Guillaume.