TheKia Provo Concept will be showcased at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show which starts tomorrow and hints at a potential future B-segment vehicle from the Korean automaker. According to Kia, the Provo Concept was designed for fun and is meant to be cheeky and cheerful in its compactness.

Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer at Kia’s European styling base in Frankfurt describes the Provo Concept as “an emotional and muscular car aimed at delivering pure fun and performance for today’s city-based enthusiast driver who longs for the curves of the open road. This is entirely a car for European tastes and conditions. Designed purely at our Frankfurt studios, the Provo was conceived as a confident and single-minded statement of dynamism and energy to deliver a new sense of fun into the B-segment. The potent shaping displays a balanced and refined outline within a compact overall shape and the tiny front and rear overhangs enhance the balance within its proportions.”

Kia Provo Concept – Specifications and Features

Engine Capability

The Kia Provo Concept is fitted with a Smart 4WD Hybrid powertrain which includes a 1.6-litre Turbo GD1 engine that develops 150kW along with an electric motor that provides an additional 33kW to the rear wheels and allows for electric-only driving at lower speeds. A 7-speed DCT transmission, a first for Kia, is responsible for putting power to the road.

Exterior Styling Features

The Kia Provo Concept stands 3.88m long, 1.77m wide and 1.35m tall with a steep front nose and carbon fibre lower valance that forms the face of the vehicle. Behind a single piece of glass is Kia’s latest take on a ‘tiger nose’ grille treatment which links directly into the Schreyer-inspired headlamps that are made up of more that 850 LED lights. The LED’s are programmable and can be used as Daytime Running Lights (DRLs), full beam lights or used in race-style configurations. A wrap-around front screen hides the A-pillars and frameless doors providing a visor-style appearance with the ‘clamshell-like’ roof floating above.

Different exterior colours are used to draw attention to particular features of the vehicle. ‘Blood Orange’ accents are used to contrast with the grey-green ‘Storm Metal’ body colour while carbon fibre surfaces and high-gloss or anodised aluminium further add to the Provo’s visual appeal. The Kia Provo Concept is fitted with 19-inch milled-alloy wheels finished in anodised ‘Blood Orange’.

Interior Styling Features

The interior is predominantly finished in black and the dashboard is made from a single piece of carbon fibre. The doors feature polished aluminium panels and are made of three individual panels including an outer panel, a carbon fibre inner panel and a neoprene-covered inner section in ‘Storm Metal’ body colour.

The Kia Provo concept also features aluminium inner door handles, footrests and pedals. The dashboard features large analogue dials on a digital display with a smaller central display for other minor gauges. The engine stop-start button, the transmission drive selector and Multi-Media Interface control are found on two control hubs in the centre tunnel.

The seats are made from a single wave-like panel and covered in quilted leather. The cockpit design is completed with small red LED lights set in the doors, air vents and roof, providing ‘low-glow’ ambient illumination.

Guillaume commented, “The whole interior concept was designed around not having a big centre console, but instead using latest technology to provide excellent functionality in a clean, clear and attractive manner.”

There are no immediate plans to put the Kia Provo Concept into production.