Vision Meta Turismo splits the difference between saloon and SUV, and previews Kia’s next-gen design
Kia has revealed a rakish, driver-focused saloon car concept to celebrate its 80th anniversary and preview its future.
The Vision Meta Turismo concept, previewed earlier this week and revealed overnight at an event in Korea, is an edgy, angular, four-seat GT that gives clues as to how the brand will evolve its Opposites United design language.
It bears little relation to any current Kia model and the brand has not given any indication of whether the concept previews a production car, but in size and shape it would seem a natural precursor to an EV7 or EV8 model to fill the gap between the EV6 crossover and EV9 SUV.
As a relatively low-slung and notionally performance-focused proposition, it would seem closest in spirit to the V6-powered Kia Stinger sports saloon that bowed out in 2022.
That car was an enthusiast-focused model that sold in tiny numbers compared with Kia’s more mainstream hatchbacks and crossovers, but company president Ho-sung Song recently told Autocar that such models play an important role as halo cars – and Kia was considering a follow-up.
“That kind of model is under study,” he said. “What kind of model can help build the brand? This is what we are now studying.”
It is not clear whether the Vision Meta Turismo is the manifestation of this ambition, as the company instead emphasises the concept’s striking silhouette and futuristic interior as elements that look ahead to the next-generation of Kia road cars.
In shape, the Vision Meta Turismo is best described as a four-door fastback GT in the vein of the Polestar 5 and Lotus Emeya, with a swooping, one-bow silhouette that clearly prioritises aerodynamic efficiency.
At the front, there’s a bold new treatment for the bumper and light signatures, with the concept moving away from the ‘Tiger Nose’ grille motif that has been a defining feature of Kia design for almost 20 years. Here, the headlights are sharply angled, with thin LED strips mounted on the muscular front haunches, which protrude from the body of the car and house the rearview cameras.
There is no traditional bonnet to speak of: the Vision Meta Turismo adopts a similar cab-forward profile to the Jaguar I-Pace, and the base of the windscreen extends almost to the leading edge of the front end – perhaps signalling a design shift that more overtly exploits the inherent packaging freedoms of Kia’s EV E-GMP platform.
The windscreen leads back into a multi-section panoramic roof that curves down towards a bluff rear end, where there’s an integrated spoiler, a contrasting black diffuser and a new interpretation of the distinctive brake light design from the EV3 and EV9.
Moving inside, the Vision Meta Turismo is pure concept in its radically minimalist and tech-led cockpit.
It’s described as a “highly immersive” cabin that majors on next-generation technology, with screens and buttons swapped for a full-width, 3D head-up display and holographic driver display. Meanwhile, there’s an unusual yoke device in place of a steering wheel, and a joystick at the side of the driver’s seat, though Kia hasn’t said what this is for – as the concept does have conventional pedals.
Kia is expected to give more details on the concept soon, but has yet to give any indication of plans for a public debut outside of Korea.
Source: Autocar
