The all-new KIA Optima isn’t exactly lacking in the looks department, yet as we’ve argued before, it appears to have lost some of its sporty design edge, compared to the previous generation.
However, according to chief designer Peter Schreyer, the Optima is more of an evolution as its design was simply intended to stand out on the road – which we really can’t argue against. The Optima still looks very good, especially when you’re considering some of the conventional designs taken up by its direct rivals.
At one point, Schreyer says that the company as we knew it 5 or 10 years ago, is gone. And this is a very important subject matter because indeed, 10 years ago KIA was something else entirely, in the U.S as well as Europe.
In Europe, it wasn’t until 2007 that they started to grow their image with the introduction of the cee’d. But it’s nothing compared to what they’re doing today. As Schreyer adds, “you can see it and feel it in the sophisticated materials”.
What’s even more exciting is thinking about where they’ll be in another 5 to 10 years. This is something that automotive journalists have been aware of for some time. We knew that KIA (and Hyundai) was rising a lot faster than the competition.
KIA is indeed “exceeding expectations”, which is all you could ask for when you’re fighting a battle on all fronts and in almost all segments.