Kia EV6 Images Released Among Flurry of Marketing Speak

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Kia is planning on launching the EV6 sometime this month, and as a tease, the brand dropped some images to go along with a bunch of marketing speak about design philosophy.

The company is using the phrase “Opposites United” to describe its overarching design philosophy, and for the EV6, it will use five “pillars” called “bold for nature”, “joy for reason”, “power to progress”, “technology for life”, and “tension for serenity.”

The press release goes on to describe each in a mish-mash of buzzwords that probably sounded great to some higher-up but gives us no real clarity on what any of it means.

I’ll try, though. The first pillar seems to relate to exterior design and connections to shapes seen in nature, the second seems to suggest Kia will create a fun experience for buyers via color choice while also trying to influence customers’ moods (presumably in a good way), the third implies that Kia will attempt to build off past successes, the fourth is about Kia using all sorts of new tech to wow buyers, and the fifth acknowledges the contrasts inherent in design.

I think I got that right. Google Translate still hasn’t added a “marketing BS to English” feature as of yet.

Maybe a couple of quotes from Kia will clear it up.

“EV6, as the first dedicated Kia EV, is a showcase of human-centered, progressive design and electrified power. We strongly believe EV6 is a compelling and relevant model for the new EV market,” said Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Design Center. “With EV6 we aimed to create a distinctive, impactful design by using a combination of sophisticated, high-tech features on pure and rich volumes, while providing a unique space as a futuristic EV.”

“We want our products to deliver an instinctive and natural experience that improves the daily lives of our customers. Our aim is to design the physical experience of our brand and to create original, inventive, and exciting electric vehicles. The ideas of our designers and the purpose of the brand are becoming more connected than ever, with our customers at the center of what we do and influencing every decision that we make,” Habib said.

If that doesn’t help, we at least have pics to gawk at.

Our initial take is that the EV6 is next in a line of current or upcoming EV crossovers with sleek exterior lines and minimalist interiors. Attractive, though not quite so sexy as to turn many heads.

Or, put another way – naturally bold with reasonable joy while presenting progressive power and including technology for life, all in a design that exudes serenity despite tension.

[Images: Kia]

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • 28-Cars-Later 28-Cars-Later on Mar 15, 2021

    Stellantis has no positions in China and their Peugeot/Opel side of the house no doubt has Europe covered for whatever the EU politburo has in mind. What will happen is the Stellantis board will leverage the Chrysler brands in North America as profit centers as FCA did and as needed will introduce whatever EV is required but to the bare minimum because they simply won't be profitable in USDM (short of unforeseen geopolitical events). GM is more a PRC company at this point than an "American" one so long as their products are profitable in PRC, they will continue to sell things mainstream like the Bolt likely at a loss and perhaps niche things like the Hummer EV at profit. GMNA will likely overall be profitable though because of the truck lines which will not be challenged, so I don't think they are very worried about the next three to four years (GM sold its Opel operations and its European presence is minimal I imagine because it cannot profit there). Ford is the one most at risk IMO. Ford's presence in China is minimal, Ford Europe's sales were down 26.8% in 2020 (and it just announced its going full EV in 2030), and Ford as a whole in more recent years has relied on F-Series for something like 90% of its profits. Unless the F-150 EV sells very well and sells *profitably*, I'd say they are in trouble mid term. Should this occur, I believe they will continue to rely on conventional F-Series sales until they figure something else out. I also believe they will pretend the Mock-E never happened unless it is somehow a smash success, they would have been much wiser to introduce the trial balloon model as a "Edge EV" with less fanfare. In this way if it became a hit they could promote the hell out of it and if not, it was never something you pushed hard to try to create fans (and enemies) out of it - it could have gained those on its merits instead of propaganda and agitprop. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2021/01/15/fords-sales-europe-fell-nearly-27-2020/4181582001/ https://www.autonews.com/executives/ford-europe-repositions-ev-focused-future

  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Mar 15, 2021

    I don’t like the shape of steering wheel. Now all Kia needs to do is to start building Gigafactories with LG or Samsung or SK. Then it becomes the new Standard of the WORLD, at least in eyes of TTAC.

  • Jrhurren Worked in Detroit 18 years, live 20 minutes away. Ren Cen is a gem, but a very terrible design inside. I’m surprised GM stuck it out as long as they did there.
  • Carson D I thought that this was going to be a comparison of BFGoodrich's different truck tires.
  • Tassos Jong-iL North Korea is saving pokemon cards and amibos to buy GM in 10 years, we hope.
  • Formula m Same as Ford, withholding billions in development because they want to rearrange the furniture.
  • EV-Guy I would care more about the Detroit downtown core. Who else would possibly be able to occupy this space? GM bought this complex - correct? If they can't fill it, how do they find tenants that can? Is the plan to just tear it down and sell to developers?
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