Kia pushes for premium

The Magentis features a sharply creased C-pillar, mimicking the famous Hofmeister kink seen on all BMWs.

The new Kia Magentis is set to make its world premiere next month at the 2010 New York motor show - and the South Korean carmaker reckons it's on to a winner.

"The next generation of Magentis possesses the power to surprise," says Peter Schreyer, Kia's chief design officer. "It's a car that people will simply not expect from Kia - and that's exactly what we set out to achieve."

Kia has dialled in a raked roofline, high shoulder line leading to sculpted flanks, and an extended wheelbase ... complemented by flared wheel arches and a shallow glasshouse. It says the design gives the car a muscular, self-assured stance.

The car features a new interpretation of Kia's bold "tiger" family face that's edged by piercing projector headlamps.

Following the theme of recent model revisions, new Magentis is longer, lower and wider than before.

The carmaker says its coupe-like profile is enhanced by the sweeping chrome arc that flows from A to C pillar, a distinctive design motif that visually lowers the car further still and enhances its cab-backwards proportions.

In profile, it features a sharply creased C-pillar, mimicking the famous Hofmeister kink seen on all BMWs, and further hinting at Kia's premium brand aspirations. Lights with horizontal LED bars feature at the rear.

"For this car we started with a clean sheet and worked to achieve an exterior design with a European feeling," says Gregory Guillaume, chief designer, Kia Europe.

To help achieve this, the exterior was designed by his team in Frankfurt. The interior was created by the design team in California.

The new Magentis is spacious, and with class-leading levels of safety and luxury equipment, the intelligently configured and driver-oriented cabin underlines a new-found poise and presence, says the company.

"This new model embodies Kia's confident new design direction," says Schreyer. "It's a global car with individual appeal."

The Kia Magentis is expected to go on sale in New Zealand later this year, one of the first countries in a staggered launch around the globe going into next year.