No, I didn’t misspell the name. You are reading it right. Kia’s latest offering to an unsuspecting public is the ex_cee’d cabrio concept car, which is based on the cee’d hatchback scheduled to begin production in Eastern Europe later this year.
The ex_cee’d will be having its world premiere at the Geneva motor show on 6th March. Kia claims that although the ex_cee’d has the same wheelbase as the cee’d, this new model will have new exterior panels, and a folding fabric roof. The new chief design officer for Kia, Peter Schreyer, said that the soft-top fabric roof signals the beginning of a ‘renaissance’ in the auto industry.
He said;
We’ve all lived with the romantic idea of open-air driving for a long time and for me, the fabric roof is an essential element of a stylish convertible.
Well, the Kia ex_cee’d’s looks are not quite so romantic. The concept car has what seems to be an extremely ungainly wedge-shaped profile and sculpted wings that sit square on 19-inch tires. A meringue white exterior color and a bitter chocolate color for the fabric is complemented by the interior’s two-tone leather touch.
Kia’s cee’d collection is supplemented by the five-door hatchback that was launched last year, the Sport Hatch, and the five-door Sport Wagon that will make its world debut in August this year. For the first time ever in Kia’s history, all these cee’d models will designed and produced in Europe, at Kia’s mammoth plant in Slovakia. Big days are ahead for Kia and this year will finally reveal if Kia can break out of big sister Hyundai’s shadow.
Via: Korea News Wire
