Kia Celebrates 80 Years in the Biz With a Futuristic Sedan Concept

Although we were only introduced to Kia relatively recently in Canada, the company actually turned 80 this year. To celebrate, it has released a golden vision of what it would look like if it made a large electric sedan.

If people actually bought those anymore.

And they weren’t constantly being discontinued.

And crossovers didn’t rule the roads.

Indeed, although the sweeping lines of the Meta Turismo concept read as a sleek sedan and its forward leaning posture elicit visions of supercars, the handsome angles and sharp creases that define the side of car are recognizably a part of Kia’s “opposites united” design language. More specifically, they have been seen on electric crossovers like the EV5 and EV9.

While adapting design language created for SUVs to sedans is a tricky business, it works well here. The creases help accentuate the wheel arches, giving the Meta Turismo a sporty look, and harken back to the box fender flares of race cars from the ‘80s, establishing a firm car-shaped foundation, and ensuring that it doesn’t simply look like a crossover that’s been squished.

It’s also interesting to see that Kia is still pushing the passenger compartment to the edges of the vehicle, giving the concept car a bit of an eggy shape. This look has been popular among automakers designing electric vehicles (EVs), as it plays to the powertrain’s strengths — you don’t need a big long hood if there’s no engine, and that leaves more room for occupants — but it hasn’t proved popular among consumers.

Mercedes has publicly said that its EQ series of sedans was a design error and changed its EV design philosophy significantly. Admittedly, the sharp lines of Kia’s design language offer the Meta Turismo some extra visual flare and prevent it from looking too smooth (and boring).

Looking inside, the shape should offer occupants an airy cabin to sit in. Not only is it large, much of the top half of the vehicle is made of glass, meaning there are great views out and plenty of light comes in. Although Kia leans into the minimalist chic aesthetic that is so popular among EVs, it spices things up by bringing some of the exterior’s gold inside with a colourful driver’s seat and cockpit area.

Interestingly, there’s nary an infotainment screen to be found in the cabin, and the simple, shield shaped steering yoke offers a clear view to the head-up display. Indeed, the name Meta Turismo may have been inspired by the car’s reliance on augmented reality visuals that are overlaid on the real road to bring drivers into the metaverse.

The look and utility of that head-up display will change depending on which “digital mode” a driver opts for. Kia has described three, Speedster, Dreamer, and Gamer, but leaves it up to us to imagine what those will entail.

That automaker has not said much about the powertrain underpinning the whole concept, but it is clear that it will be electric. Meanwhile, the Dreamer digital mode may suggest that Kia imagines the car will feature highly advanced driver assistance systems that allow a driver to take their hands off the wheel.

It remains unclear how seriously we should take this concept. Last year, Kia’s president said that an all-new electrified successor to the Stinger was being studied. This would seem to fit the bill, but it’s important to remember that the sedan entered a difficult market for sedans and left one that was, if anything, even harder. This year alone, several large, premium sedans were cancelled, and Volkswagen changed its mind about exporting its own large sedan, the ID.7, to Canada. Still, it’s interesting to see that the automaker’s electric design language adapts well to sedans, and that it’s thinking about sedans at all.