Unless you have a chauffeur or takes public transport, commutes between work and home, and anything in between, can be hardly called “rejuvenating”, but that does not deter KIA from proposing that its concept car, Novo, can “establish a calming, focused environment in which drivers can refresh and rejuvenate as they transition from one life commitment to the next.” People, looks like we are witnessing the world’s first Zen car here, or at least we think it sounds pretty Zen anyways. Rejuvenating or not, we can’t say for sure, but one thing for sure is, this car is the boldest concept yet from the South Korean car maker and like it or not, it is the design language we will be seeing in KIA Motor’s next-generation compact vehicles.
We shan’t dig into the design too much; all we can say is, it is very coupe-ish and there is no doubt that sportiness was in the mind of its designers when they penned this baby, even thought the concept is a four-door sedan. Pretty impressive and we kind of dig the clean, minimalistic design approach which continues into the vehicle’s cabin, where you will find a “driver-centric” cabin that is by far, the most minimal we have seen. Save for the multi-function steering wheel, everything else looks, well, minimal and the stitched leather on the dash and almost everywhere else, plus the aluminum accents, accentuates the luxury aspect of the car. Even the seats are devoid of lines (might be slippy though due to the lack of ‘relief’, just saying…).
Interestingly, the seat belt system boasts latches that are seamlessly integrated into the seats and along with built-in inertia reel contributes to the uncluttered theme. The concept’s 20-inch wheels are wrapped in innovative new “adaptive concave profile” tires that has a sunken middle between two narrow contact points, which serves to cool the rubber and channel excess water away from the wheels. Additionally, the outer edge of each tire is said to offer lower rolling resistance and minimize road noise, while providing high level of grip during cornering.
Power comes a 1.6L ‘Kappa’ turbocharged gasoline direct injection (T-GDI) unit, mated to a seven-speed DCT which puts the power to the front wheels. However, performance numbers are not offered, but there is really no need for them, since KIA said they have no plans to bring Novo to production. Novo is merely here to tease motoring enthusiasts of what the automaker has to offer in future with regard to its compact car lineup. Bummer.
