2010 Kia Cerato Forte – More than just a copy
Whenever I read or hear about a Kia car, there are a few negative preconceived ideas that immediately pop into my head; one notably is my personal distaste towards their styling themes. When I first saw the 2010 Kia Cerato Forte, I honestly thought it was a Honda (Civic), so you can imagine my surprise when I first saw that it wasn’t! Now, there is no doubt there are some striking similarities between the Honda and Kia, but it would be too easy to simply dismiss this as a copy, we will save that for the Chinese automotive companies!
Kia Cerato Forte or Honda Civic?
From a straight comparison to any prior model of Kia, it seems that the 2010 model is something that is actually pleasant to look at, with nothing really standing out as offensive or not working in harmony with the rest of the vehicle.
Using sharp angular lines creates a more aggressive Kia
An interesting disjointed belt line brings an emphasis on a dynamic front end of the car. The spear created shows a focusing on the stance of the car (I have not really seen this in any prior Kia design), rather than the length of the car (to give the illusion the car is bigger than it may actually be). Reinforcing the stance of the car are the angular notions of the grille and headlights that are further accentuated with a spears underneath them.
Adjusted lines to show a stronger relationship between the side and the front of the car
Even with a disconnected belt line, it is very successful in capturing enough light to show some form through out the design on the side. Additional to creating more form, and to stay away from appearing too ‘tall’ (a result of a larger, functional DLO) the lower section of the doors above the side rockers, is a sculpted negative shape that creates a darker shadow. When I see the contrast of the light on the belt line shoulder, comparing it with the lower negative section, the doors still seem quite flat and blocky. Also, I am yet to see how the lower body side relates to the front, or for that matter, the rear of the car.
Adjustments to show how the relationship between the side and the rear of the car.
If there was any need for a design to have less emphasis on the height of the car, this would be it, the rear of the Cerato Forte (especially if you compare it with the front!). From what I have usually seen, the concept sketch of a car rarely looks ‘tall’ deliberately. No doubt, the resultant of this height is due to some engineering restrictions. The success on the rear of this Kia, although pleasant looking, it does not fully achieve a better suited solution.
Although not a suitable production alternative, it shows how some adjustments can reduce the visual 'height' of the rear.
I vaguely remember seeing some clay models of an early proposal of the BMW 5 series; this too had a problem of looking too ‘tall’ around the section of the deck lid. After a successful refinement process, we have a solution that we see on the roads today, although not looking ‘wide’, it does not look ‘tall’ either.
Pleasant
This is still a great design result for Kia, and even if it is slightly marred with comparisons to the Honda. If I was being super critical, and I guess this is the idea of this blog, some elements are just not sensitive enough to the rest of the car. For example the edges of the A-pillar flowing to the hood are too sharp in comparison to the rest of the car and as previously mentioned the body side also lacks form. Overall the design is quite cool. The promising bold elements of the front fender lead me to expect good things to come out from other models of their range, even though there is nothing ground breaking about the design, but that isn’t what Kia’s are about…. yet.
interesting and thought provoking discussion
i actually think this car is one that presents itself better in photos than in real life… i went to the showroom to have a look at one and the apparent size difference is remarkable. It is a lot smaller and stubbier in real life.
even so i think it is a kind of renassaince period for Kia. They have a slew of attractive and even daring designs.
You might want to follow this up with the Kia Forte Koup:
http://www.kia-world.net/index.php/category/forte-koup/
and the Kia Soul, Sorrento and Borrego. They are all in my opinion, quite extraordinarily good designs in their own way and represent a turning circle for this company. Perhaps it is the injection of the Teutonic eye in the form of ex Audi man Peter Schreyer?
That Forte Koup is pretty cool – I would almost suggest that the Koup was designed first, then the sedan version (Cerato Forte) was designed from it. Almost like how the current model Opel Astra. What a sporty looking thing!
if you’re bored you might want to look at the Hyundai i30/Kia Ceed.
They are sister cars (same car, different skin). I like idea of the same car being interpreted by two different design studios.
I like the Ceed more. The i30 has ugly headlights and a BMW 130 style tail. The wagon versions are also nice.
The Ceed also has a pretty good looking two door hot hatch. The Ceed wagon in my opinion is one of the smarter looking small cars out there.
5 yrs ago Korean designed rubbish. In another 5 yrs who knows where they’ll be.
Thanks for the heads up Tony. I too like the Ceed. I noticed that about the rear of the Hyundai, and as for the comparison, its pretty cool to see the interpretations. Did you know that the Chevrolet Camaro is based in the Australian Holden Commodore? One is a big 4 door, the other a 2 door coupe! Now that is quite a difference!
The curiosity I have from a design perspective is what input does Design have in the final decisions that determine the quality of the content even when there is complete agreement on the design itself. In other words, who says this has to be a $17,000 car and not a $17,500 car with higher quality interior materials. Does Design only go as far as the look or does it ever insist on a certain level of quality and tactile feel. VW seems to be a good example of a process that takes design beyond mere looks.
For everything that the Kia is, I feel that an additional $500 of “quality” would have broadened its appeal and increased its sales even at the slightly higher price.
From my experience, ‘Design’ is large department that consists of designers who come up with how it looks, engineers who work with the overall board engineering of the car and areas that will be directly affect the design, and color and trim which determine the types of surface finishes and materials used (and many more areas)…I have come across another group in design charged with the description of ‘quality perception’.
There would be many of these people working together, in terms of the determining the type of quality materials used and tactile feel etc. Overall, they will be working with a budget that has been determined by management and they will be helped by people in marketing (where they position their car against others).
So as the designers are proposing what types of ideal materials they will use, their costing will be worked out accordingly, and from there decisions will be made on where they can do to ‘reduce’ costs (using cheaper materials for example).
I guess if a designer is adamant about a design of using higher materials, they can try put forward their case to justify the increase the cost, if it is agreed, then the designer will be happy! however usually cost is a driving factor in the design, so unless they can ‘save’ that money from another areas, it may be harder to convince to go ahead with a certain idea.