SEOUL: South Korea’s second-largest car maker Kia revealed its latest Novo concept car during the 2015 Seoul Motor Show that’s targeting modern urbanites with stressful jobs and frantic schedules.
According to Kia, the name ‘Novo’ represents the concept of making something new and fresh (from the Latin ‘novatus’) and is an attempt to establish a calming, focused environment so that drivers can refresh and rejuvenate when transitioning from one life commitment to the next.
The Korean carmaker also gained inspiration for the name from the word ‘novatus’, which also provides the origin of the English word, ‘innovation’ for the car’s styling and high-tech interior features.
Powering the Novo will be a 1.6-litre ‘Kappa’ turbocharged gasoline direct injection (T-GDI) engine that’s paired a seven-speed to manage power to the front wheels.
The concept also receives new ‘adaptive concave profile’ tyres fitted on 20-inch wheels, with a sunken mid-section between two contact points which help to cool the rubber and channel excess road water away from the wheels for greater grip.
The tyres feature two slim contact points on the outer edges to provide lower rolling resistance and reduce road noise, yet providing a high level of grip.
The Novo and its coupe-inspired silhouette was designed at Kia’s Namyang design centre in Korea on a specially adapted version of Kia’s C-segment global platform.
Designed with minimal frontal overhangs that’s contrasted with longer rear overhangs, the fastback roofline and the slim-yet-long glass area helps to give it that raked, sporty profile.
At the front, the signature Kia ‘tiger-nose’ grille is now wider and more deeply embedded, which goes well with the new slim laser headlamps – even the low, wide air intakes house additional laser headlamps.
The Novo gets low triangular exhausts for added sportiness that are accentuated by its sharply creased bodywork that’s seen on the doors, skirts and aluminium wing vents.
The doors are rear-hinged with central pop-out door handles that run level with the aluminium wing mirrors and the diamond-cut alloy wheels also take on the sharp design cue with a two-tone carbon and silver finish.
Lastly, the exterior of the Novo gets an aluminium rear roof line and a two-tone silver and green paint finish.
Inside, it’s of a minimalist design that Kia says, “provides a relaxing space in which to temporarily escape the stresses and strains of modern life” and provides occupants with plenty of space and is highly driver-centric.
The leather-clad interior uses aluminium accents with the dashboard angled towards the driver and will only gets four individual dark brown leather sports seats that feature built-in inertia reel seatbelts.
The instrument cluster uses a compact three-dimensional hologram display, while a ‘blind control’ touch pad next to the steering wheel allows drivers to control the car’s many functions without taking their eyes off the road ahead.
The touch pad incorporates a fingerprint scanner, which automatically sets up elements of the car according to the driver’s preferences, such as music selection, audio volume and the type of information displayed.
A wide touchscreen in the centre of the dash displays the car’s full range of functionality to occupants.
All being said, Kia currently has no plans to bring the Novo concept to production, but will certainly use to inspire future styling for its production vehicles as it has historically been doing.
Keyword: Kia Novo revealed at Seoul Motor Show