Kia Kee concept (2007) CAR review

This Kia’s called the Kee. Is it the key to a bright future?

If you talk to the firm’s design chief Peter Schreyer it is. That grille is the future look of all Kias. He wants the company’s cars to be instantly recognisable from 100 metres away, rather like BMWs or Audis are. And he believes the Kee’s front end will do that. On other cars it won’t necessarily have the recessed element that the Kee does and he claims it could be less rectangular or maybe even body coloured but it’ll be essentially the same shape. That’s why the front grille is echoed in the lines at the rear too; he wants to get the message across.

It’s an interesting look. What’s it like in the metal?

The Kee’s dimensions make it about the same size as an Audi TT (the car that helped Schreyer make his name). And the Korean car wouldn’t look out of place parked alongside a TT or Mazda RX-8. There are plenty of nice details on it. Schreyer claims the LED running lights were one of the last details they came up with but they still look brilliant, giving the car a grin but without making it look cheesy. It’s good from the rear too, especially those twin centre-mounted exhausts.