Kia’s potent GT a step closer to reality

KIA Motors design director Peter Schreyer has hinted that his GT sports sedan is getting close to production approval, but his pet passion – an open-top roadster for Kia – remains a dream.

Speaking to GoAuto on the eve of the Paris motor show where Kia unveiled its new Rondo compact people-mover, Mr Schreyer said he too was waiting for the production version of the GT that was shown in concept form a year ago at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show.

But he indicated the BMW 5 Series competitor was very much alive, saying: “Yes, the GT is a chance … the chance that it will probably get the green light is there.

“The discussion is quite positive, so, we have to see.”

But asked about his oft-mentioned hope to one day design a roadster for Kia, he said only: “This is my dream.”

The Kia GT concept featured a turbocharged 291kW/534Nm 3.3-litre Lambda GDI V6 engine driving the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Unveiling the concept in Frankfurt, Mr Schreyer described the GT as a realistic car with worldwide appeal.

Left: Kia design director Peter Schreyer.



“I could envisage it rolling down the road tomorrow,” he said.

The concept featured rear-opening back doors in a pillarless design that might make it into production.

Subsequent reports suggest the GT might also spawn a two-door coupe and wagon, and might be based on the same BH-L platform as the Kia K9 and Hyundai Equus large cars.

Mr Schreyer, a former Audi designer who still operates from studios in Germany for Kia, presided over the unveiling of more basic models last night – the Europe-only Pro_Cee’d three-door hatch and the Rondo compact people-mover that will make it to Australia about April 2013.

He said the strength of the Rondo – badged Carens in Europe – was its versatility, with a flexible three-row seat design that could be folded many ways.

Mr Schreyer would not be drawn on whether the new Rondo, which is based on the same new platform as the upcoming Cerato small car that will also arrive in Australia in the first half of 2013, would share its looks with the all-new Carnival that is expected about 2014.

“It will look great,” he said. “And it will look like a Kia.”

The Carnival is the oldest vehicle in the Kia line-up, having been released in 2006, but the release of an all-new model is believed to have been delayed because at least one key Kia market did not like the design of the replacement, sending Mr Schreyer’s team back to the drawing board.

With the Rondo now reworked in the new Kia design language, the Carnival is the only remaining Kia vehicle not to have been given a ground-up Schreyer make-over.