Interview: Karim Habib, senior vice president of design, Kia

Kia unveiled its latest concept, the EV9, at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, previewing what a three-row electric SUV might look like as the brand begins to fulfill its promise to introduce seven new EV production models by 2027. CDN’s North America correspondent Laura Burstein caught up with Kia head of design Karim Habib for a private walkaround the new concept and chat about the company’s design direction.

Laura Burstein: This vehicle is quite a departure from the Telluride, Kia’s current ICE three-row SUV. Why did your design team choose to go in this direction?

Karim Habib: This is our idea of what we can do in a three-row SUV EV. The Telluride is doing really well in the US, and we want to be able to do the same thing in the EV world. We have this heritage at Kia about capability, so we wanted to make it an authentic SUV, but it’s not easy because these cars get very heavy. So we wanted to do a show car to push the idea.

LB: You’re in the midst of reinventing the Kia brand through design. In what ways does the EV9 embody this new direction?

KH: We have this design philosophy we created called “opposites unite.” It’s something I’ve personally believed for a very long time. Visual contrast is very exciting, seeing things that don’t feel like they belong together yet somehow work. The world is full of these contrasts, of messy things that when you look at them a little bit deeper, they’re quite fascinating. So we wanted contrast in our design, and to combine things that don’t feel like they should be together.

Take the Concept EV9, for example. The centre section of the car is very soft, there’s almost no definition. It has the core that’s very low, which is unusual; normally you want the shoulder to be high and feel very proud, but we purposely didn’t want to do that. We wanted the front to feel – I don’t want to say static, but kind of stepped-back in a way. On the other hand, you have the shoulders, the front and rear, they’re very angular, these sharp triangular surfaces, they don’t feel like they really belong because you expect the shoulder to go through. But by doing the opposite of that, it makes the car quite unique.

LB: What about the interior design philosophy?

KH: You can see very light colors, and the gradation from blue to grey. We design with negative space. For me that’s something I’ve learned since I starting living in Asia; you can design around the emptiness. And, of course, we want the interior to contrast with the exterior. The exterior is more solid, present and bold, while the interior is much more subdued.

LB: Are there specific interior design elements you are particularly proud of?

KH: The flat floor is something we talk about all the time. It is very important in achieving a sense of space, and we wanted that to be carried through the rest of the car. On the IP, for example, we kept elements horizontal, but we didn’t want it to be just flat and low. The idea was to ensure there is enough volume in front of the passenger and driver to make them feel protected. So that’s why there is this loop shape – a brilliant idea from one of our designers. It’s a great way of dealing with the fact that we wanted something lightweight that still has volume. So usually where you have a positive volume, we scooped it out and emptied it.

Another important element is the mesh headrest, which we are working to get into production. It’s just such a simple idea – every office chair has it today, and it makes a lot of sense in terms safety while simultaenously allowing for airiness and the feeling of space.

LB: Every brand seems to have a different idea of how to execute and integrate its displays. Kia’s seems very up-front and matter of fact. Was that intentional?

KH: We didn’t really want to try to integrate the screen, so we just accepted the value of it in its usual form – it’s flat not curved, and we wanted to embrace the screen-ness of it, for lack of a better word. And in this case we have an OLED, which is very thin and precise. We worked with the supplier to get those angles on the corners, but during the process we even thought of cutting it in a very simple manner, without trying to be too stylised.

LB: Every manufacturer seems to be talking about sustainability these days. What does that mean to you and how is Kia working toward this goal?

KH: Yes, we hear it in many places. it’s something we have to do, and I really like that we’re doing it. On the EV9, the carpet is made from recycled fishing nets, and the fabric trim is part PET and part wool.

Beyond that, we are working with The Ocean Cleanup. [Parent company] Hyundai is going to help them build their interceptor boat, and we are going to provide metal to them. And our aim is to use the plastics they pick up in our production cars.

LB: How does this all fit into the big picture? What are the overarching goals and values for the brand, and how does Kia set itself apart from Hyundai’s other nameplates?

KH: Kia is the smaller of the brands, so we have the advantage of being a nimble partner. We’re able to try certain things that maybe Hyundai wouldn’t do, and we can be a little more experimental.

The idea, “movement that inspires,” is something we have come up with together. It’s a very simple idea in my opinion – it’s about the fact that being able to move, to go from one place to another, to travel, to discover new places, has been at the source of human progress. When people travel and they migrate or emigrate to different places or discover new places, they learn new things. We are now living in a time when being mobile has negative consequences on the environment. But movement is not something we should sacrifice in the future, because if we don’t travel there will be a social and perhaps an ethical regression. So we want to provide safe and environmentally-responsible mobility to people – this is our overarching goal as a brand.