The Kia Rio Then and Now – A Design Evolution &Design story

 A Design Evolution

Outline the design evolution of the Kia Rio and how it went from an ordinary subcompact to a top selling vehicle that has won multiple prestigious design awards.

1987 (Pride)

The Rio’s origin dates back to an earlier model which was known as the Kia Pride in 1987. This mini hatchback was a joint project between Kia, Ford and Mazda. It was sold in Korea as the Kia Pride, but was known as the Ford Festiva for the US market.

1994 (Avella)

The Pride became the Kia Avella in the domestic Korean market and was sold as the Ford Aspire in the US. All Avellas came standard with 13 inch wheels, a four-speaker stereo, heated rear glass, anti-lock brakes (ABS), driver’s side airbag, and door impact beams. It was also the first South Korean car in its class to offer dual airbags and ABS-brakes.

1999 (Rio)

The Avella was discontinued in 1999 and both it and the Pride (first generation Ford Festiva) were transformed  and re-badged to become the Kia Rio, but Rio still goes by ‘Pride’ in the domestic Korean market. The Rio was available in both hatchback and 4-door sedan body styles and featured a 96 horsepower, 1.5-litre DOHC  gasoline engine from 2001-2002.

2002

A few years later, the Rio received a slight redesign with new exterior and interior styling along with engine, suspension and brake upgrades.

2006

A fairy godmother once transformed Cinderella’s pumpkin into a stunning horse carriage, and in a similar fashion, bringing Peter Schreyer on board as Kia’s Chief Designer Officer was indeed magical. He dramatically introduced new design improvements and our engineers were inspired to match looks with performance by including a 110 horsepower 1.6-litre DOHC four-cylinder engine.

2010

In 2010, the Rio embraced Kia’s distinctive tiger nose grille and added some modern and high-tech features such as Bluetooth hands-free phone operation and a new gauge cluster.

2012

And after 25 years of enhanced design, performance, safety, features and fuel efficiency kia have arrived to the present day All-New Rio. It has both style and performance with multiple engine choices, trims, colors and options to meet the needs of drivers from all walks of life.

Design Story 2012

 It is a subtle language which is spoken through a car, which you perceive not only with your eyes, but also with your other senses. It is a combination of everything you feel, touch, see and hear.

The language of design should also contain a hint of the company’s philosophy and beliefs, but more importantly, it’s the passion that stands out from competitors. All of this was required when numerous engineers, project managers and designers from centers in Europe, North America and Korea put their heads together to create the all-new Kia Rio, a car that continues to fascinate its producers as it makes bold ventures into the automobile world.

Defining New Luxury

Can compact cars be luxurious? It was a simple question, but a daunting task for Kia designers who wanted to change the perception that compact cars meant only “small” and “practical.” New challenges required a new way of thinking. The developers involved with Rio were members who participated in the development of medium to large sized sedans or luxury models to ensure that they wouldn’t be entrapped by their concept of what a ‘compact car’ should be like.

The result was a new way of looking at what compact cars should offer, such as wide space to provide comfort to drivers and passengers. There are now features and functions that were unavailable to drivers before in sub-compact car segment, such as LED headlight lamps, a cooling internal compartment box, a seven-inch navigation system, a rear-view camera and much more. All of these aspects make the Rio a new luxurious, affordable vehicle that transcends its deceptively small size.

Simply a Beauty, Inside and Out

Before setting out to design the Rio, designers did their research. Months of market research and passenger preference tests were done in Europe and North America, targeted toward young drivers in their 20s and 30s. The results showed that this segment of drivers is attracted to economy, fuel efficiency, dynamic style and sporty design.

So it is no surprise that designers came up with two important words that were essential in attaining their goals: “modern” and “youthful.” Basic straight lines were used to emphasize a clean and modern look. Curves and volumes were used to give a youthful and dynamic look to the car. At the front, the intake grille and fog lamp graphics were expanded to establish a more confident and sporty image of the car while maintaining the design identity of Kia’s tiger nose grille. The eyes of the car, or the head lamps, are literally eye-catching. Both projection low beam and LED daytime running lamps are incorporated into the head lamps, capturing high-tech images and a forward-looking stance.

The Rio’s side profile is also the result of considerable deliberation among designers. Designers really wanted Rio to exude sportiness, so they added a dynamic window graphic with a cab-forward style and a black glass slant that continues from the front hood of the car.