The Kia cee’d, in addition to the saloon and van, is one of the rare representatives of the segment that still has a three-door bodywork – a type of bodywork in danger of extinction. The pro_cee’d – in Portugal, cee’d SCoupe - as we know it should be eliminated. This considering the name chosen for the mystery concept presented a week ago, defined by Kia as an extended hot hatch: proceeded.
The inexplicable apostrophe and dash were removed from the name and “pro” was joined with “ceed” and voila. The Proceed Concept not only anticipates the successor to the Kia cee’d – scheduled for 2018 -, but also reinvents the pro_cee’d, transforming it into an appealing van with a (very good) sporty look. Correction, it's not a van, not a shooting brake, but an extended hot hatch.
We may regret the end of the three-door bodywork, but look at this concept. If the Proceed reaches the production line with these proportions and pose, it is still a notable replacement – and far from being another crossover.
Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer, Kia EuropeWith so many European drivers now looking for alternatives to the three-door hot hatch, we started thinking about a different halo model for the cee'd family. The Proceed Concept represents a bold new vision of how the vibrant soul of the pro_cee'd could be reincarnated and revitalized for a new generation of performance-oriented drivers.
own identity
The inspiration for the Kia Stinger can be seen and the identifying elements of Kia's design are present: the “tiger nose”, the windshield with a castle outline and the curved and tense surfaces.
But Proceed has an identity of its own. The highlight is, of course, your profile. 20-inch wheels and a low-height glazing area demonstrate athletic proportions. These are accentuated by the underbody shaping, with a carbon fiber section, which highlights the slim waistline and generously sized wheels.
The profile is definitely marked by the line that delimits the glazed area, following the arched contours of the roof towards the rear. This arch is broken when it intersects the base line of the windows – a line that gains a distinct fin-shaped element on the C pillar.
The glazed area marks the profile's identity in such a way that Kia's designers had no problem lighting its outline, as well as the fin, for easier recognition of the Proceed at night.
Living up to the hot (hot) in the extended hot hatch, the bodywork was coated in a vibrant shade of red called Lava Red. It remains to be seen what lies under the bonnet to do justice to the hot hatch in its name – perhaps the 2.0 liter turbo of the Hyundai i30 N?
The Kia Proceed will be publicly presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show, just 500 meters away from the brand's European Design Center, where it was designed.