Kia scoops two iF Design Awards

Two of Kia's newest models have both won an iF Design Award.

The Kia Sportage and Optima were honoured in the ‘Automobiles/Vehicles/Bikes’ category, where the product as well as overall design quality, are considered by the independent jury, evaluating the cars on their finish, innovation, environmental impact and safety.

Since it was launched in 1953, the annual iF Design Award has become an important prize in design. The award has its origins in the ‘Formgerechte Industrieerzeugnisse’ (Good Industrial Design) product shows initiated by Germany’s Hannover Messe, and is now described as one of the world’s largest and most prestigious design competitions.

Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia Motors UK commented: “We are delighted to accept these awards for the all-new Kia Sportage and Optima as proof of our design teams’ consistent efforts to develop prize-winning designs. The new Sportage features a distinctive new face, and the elegant Optima saloon highlights other, different facets of Kia’s design. These are important flagship models for us, clearly demonstrating the design-led transformation of the Kia model range in recent years.”

With the latest generation of the Sportage, Kia has redesigned its compact SUV adding a ‘high quality interior’ combining ‘modern elegance with high-quality materials and practical features’. The all-new Kia Optima saloon features ‘modern surface details, sharp styling lines, and a long, lean silhouette’ giving the car an even bolder on-road presence than its predecessors.

The official presentation ceremony for the 2016 iF Design Awards will take place on 26 February 2016 at the Munich Creative Business Week.