Yes, the all-new Optima is a really good looking car, there’s no arguing against that. But what about when compared to the previous model?
We can clearly see the styling evolution between the two. It’s bigger, sleeker and a bit more elegant as if begging rivals such as the new Chevy Malibu to welcome it to the “mid-size but quite big” country club.
Calling the old Optima “mid-sized” was a bit of an overstatement. But that’s precisely what we loved about it. It looked a little more compact and it certainly looked very sporty thanks to a more angular approach to its design.
With the new model, the same design language obviously still applies but it’s more evolved, in an elegant sort of way. Which also means that some of those sporty characteristics such as the smaller grille, shorter shoulder line and what we think was a more aggressive rear end, are now gone.
Obviously the interior is much improved, and so are the gadgets on board as well as the engines but we can’t quite shake the feeling that KIA intentionally made the Optima look less sporty.
It may have something to do with sales figures, as they’re surely trying to attract more premium buyers, but in a way this strategy kind of brushes off those of us who were genuinely pleased by the design of the previous model.
Either way, maybe KIA will still get the NBA to help them out some more by having a few players get involved with the all-new Optima on-screen.
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