Nothing is certain with cars, which is exactly what makes the car industry so interesting.
The car industry like many others is reliant on the demands of its consumers – that’s for certain. What differentiates the car industry is that no other competitive or materialistic industry is so subject to governmental legislation. Cars have to be desirable or attractive to look at, or fun to drive whilst also being reliable, but above all they need to be safe.
The fashion industry does not have to focus on making sure the clothes they make are fireproof, nor do tech companies have to ensure that a mobile phone won’t break your nose if one as lobbed at your face. These things don’t matter, but with cars things are different.
Few things ruin the reputation of a car more than a poor safety record. From the rather inflammable Ford Pinto (talk about lighting a fire under Ford’s arse), to the first Mercedes A-Class which was a perfectly fine car as long as no large Swedish moose – probably named Sven – traipsed across the road requiring a quick left-right evasive manoeuvre.
The point here is that it is a miracle that we’ve ever had a car in the modern age that looks nice. It speaks highly of manufacturers who are able to make cars that are both safe and stylish. Now, not every modern car looks nice, but some are really rather eye-catching.
That brings us to the Kia EV6.
Ah, Kia – how far you’ve come.
Let’s face it, Korean cars for a long time were a bit of a joke. They were cheap, but they looked and felt and drove cheap.
As Paul Weller would say: what you give is what you get.
But Korean car manufacturers have really started getting their shit together recently, and truthfully they are now consistently making really ace cars. Unfortunately car prejudice is still a very common thing in Europe, with many people still viewing the German Giants of Mercedes, BMW and Audi as the most aspirational cars to own (somehow Volkswagen has also snuck in there too?).
And all of this works as a huge disservice to the kick-ass Koreans.
Take a look at the Kia’s latest goal net creaser, the EV6. The thing is stunning. Truthfully, from the rear the EV6 really does out-Aston Martin the Aston Martin DBX. Its rear end is impossibly stylish, with a light blade that puts the DBX’s to shame. I particularly love how each of the LEDs in that rear light blade are little rectangles that begin to space out the further away from the centre of the car they get. The way they fall away from the vertical and begin to stretch as they approach the EV6’s rear corners, eventually landing almost horizontally, is just so neat.
The EV6’s ducktail rear end, of which the light blade is a major part, puts not just the Aston DBX but all Astons to shame is just sheer magnificence. So acute is the edge that the whole rear works towards, so pronounced is the ducktail flick. Christ, its good.
Yes, the car lacks the body tautness and sophistication of the Aston Martin generally, but the rear is really quite characterful and impressive.
The rest of the EV6 is succinct, and most importantly of all, unique. If the EV6 heralds the start of Kia’s dedicated electric car design language, then they are off to a flying start. What Kia have managed to avoid is making their electric cars controversially different just for the heck of it. Some brands have this idea that their electric cars have to look complete different to their fossil fuel-powered vehicles, which is fine. But often they get so caught up in making their EVs look different, that the EVs just end up looking really strange, with a lack of homogeneity and identity.
Kia, on the other hand, is making its EVs extra desirable by making them look really quite special, instead of being different for difference’s sake.
Keep it up, Kia.
Kerbside 