AutoCritical

Here’s an interesting fact that you may not already know about Saab that I find very interesting. All their production cars carry the number 9 at the beginning of their model numbers that signifies it as a civilian vehicle, since in the past Saab used to produce military transportation, mostly air planes. (Except for the Saab 600, it being a rebadged Lancia Delta)
The Saab exterior and interior styling has always claimed to links to aeroplanes, for the interior the usual mass of buttons can draw comparisons but to what strength the exterior connects can be quite debatable – although did you see the attempt of propeller like wheels? They should have stuck with something more similar to the Aero X concept!

Saab Automotive- Saab Aeronautics

I personally love the Sweedish Saab style. There is always something distinct that separates them from the more popular cars in the same market. Proportionally the new Saab 9-5 is robust, and more so than ever in a widely attainable production car there are strong elements drawing influence from air flight.

Aeronautical themes - Saab 9-5 with a proposal sketch

The glasshouse more strongly represents one surrounding the cockpit of a plane with an almost ‘wrap around’ appearance, mostly helped with the darkened A-pillar. Although sounding quite simple, it takes more than just darkening the A-pillar to create this illusion. Accentuation through the use of chrome further pushes this aeronautical theme to something that stands out as a main feature.

Chrome highlights - Can you see the cockpit of the plane?

Other areas of chrome accentuation belong to the lower fender vent that joins the side rocker that catches a strong line of light. This cleverly creates the illusion of more chrome than there actually is, and I’m guessing in the natural light a spear of light shoots out of the front fender vent all the way through to the lower of the rear fascia. Overall this creates a length across the body side that perhaps even resembles a nosecone from an aeroplane.

Jet fighter afterburner

Around the rear half of the car is a more sculpturally organic shape that doesn’t call attention to its length, and with the heavy set C pillar really emphasis the length of the ‘nosecone’. In other certain contexts a heavy rear can look a bit off, but I think Saab have justified this through this idea. Keeping in line with the aeronautical theme, the rear lighting design reminds me of images of a glowing red hot jet fighter rocket ready to take off! This Saab is indeed ready to go!

From the Aero X concept

Just like a hungry jet fighter sucking in air to feed the burners, the 9-5 does too. In keeping with the corporate face of Saab, the traditional grill layout complements the shape of the front and hood which results in a clean and refined look – reminiscent of the Aero X concept. Even the bonnet creases carry a restrained aggression where they bulge out, yet flow cleanly into the fascia detail work.

Saab 900 and Saab 9-5

It’s good to see car designs that make reference to their signature styles of the past; I see a lot of the influences of say, the Saab 900 in this design. The proportions (more obvious in the C Pillar) although updated to a more current setup, still manage to pay homage to its heritage. I’m pretty keen to see what else Saab has to offer – the aero model will be something to watch out for, especially after the take over with Koenigsegg!

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.