Kia's futuristic design

The South Korean company is extending its cee'd line-up in Europe with a compact hatch and, more importantly, is about to reveal its first sports car.

The name of the new Kia coupe will stay a secret until the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, but its basic shape has been revealed in a single picture.

And it will also show the Kia 'face' that will be the signature in coming years.

The concept coupe is the work of the man who gave the world the original Audi TT, and Peter Schreyer is promising something special for his Kia leader.

“I'm sure Kia will surprise the entire automotive world when people see our new sports coupe concept in the metal,” says Schreyer, the chief design director at Kia.

“Kia is allowing me to shape its whole brand design and character. Seldom does a designer have such a clean sheet to work with.”

The implications for the 2+2 concept are clear, particularly as Kia's big brother, Hyundai, recently confirmed plans for a new sports car, probably with rear-wheel drive.

“Schreyer is showing the concept car at Frankfurt and he says it is a design direction that could easily be produced and could potentially go on a rear-drive platform,” Kia Australia's Jonathan Fletcher says.

The newest member of the Euro-focused cee'd range is the three-door hatch, called Pro-cee'd, which follows the five-door and wagon.

Kia says it shares only the bonnet and front guards of the existing five-door and has been designed to look more sporty with a lower body.

It will be previewed at Frankfurt, but there is no news on when the car will come to Australia. And that's not just the new three-door, but the whole cee'd family.

“It's not going to be this year,” Fletcher says. “The short answer on cee'd is we don't know the price. They also have a forward-order book that is growing in Europe. And there is a limit to their production capacity.”

He says Kia Australia is keen to get the cee'd, but the company is still considering which cars it will push to launch.

“The new hatch was always planned as part of the cee'd family,” he says.