2015 Kia KX3 Concept Is Perfect For BRICs

SHAKESPEARE SPOKE of the infinite variety of life. Looney Tunes said expect the unexpected. I don’t think either would have foreseen in 2003 a cash-strapped Lego becoming the Mattel-vaulting phenomenon it is today. Lego started its rise when it bought rights to Star Wars to produce yellow-faced merchandise. Harry Potter soon followed. In fact, much of the popularity of Lego is founded on taking established products and given them the brick treatment. 

In making friendlier versions of established rivals, the strategy of Kia under design director Peter Schreyer is similar to Lego. Want a Golf but find it too stiff? Buy a C'eed. Corsa too conventional? Rio please. And why buy a clip-on Mondeo when you can have a silk-knit Optima? Each Kia model has a youthful vibrancy worthy of Lego, with details given product-like attention. It is a refreshing approach: Kia doesn't take itself too seriously, yet the professionalism of the design execution is self-evident.

The latest car, the KX3, seems likely to be the next Sportage and is the cutesy cover version of the Cayenne. Highly perched lamps, sunken bonnet and low grille faithfully ape Porsche proportions. The expression is fun toy, which could easily dissolve to spurious cheapness were Kia not so adept at generating bold volumes that warrant a sense of pride. 

The bodyside has a Rio-sourced bodyside with chunky arches, although the shoulder that Kia usually gets so right lacks a little assertion (budget-consciousness excuses the skinny chrome). Equally the back of the car, though pleasantly resolved, doesn't quite match the funkiness of the front. 

The small SUV is hot property in developing markets, yet there is still a motley crew of profferings. Ford blew it with the EcoSport; the 500X Fiat is for 500-fans only, and Dacia is a bit too Crocs for me. Only the Honda and Volkswagen offer any style. Everything is awesome for Kia, then? Not quite, but close enough. If Lego can up-stage Barbie, then Kia bettering VW is not such a distant fantasy.