This past week, Kia celebrated its 80th anniversary with an exhibition that honored the brand’s history, at the center of which was the Vision Meta Turismo, a bonkers concept that foreshadows what Kia refers to as "a new era of mobility."
Unveiled at the Kia Vision Square in Yongin, South Korea, the sports sedan concept will likely become the EV8. And had it not come through the brand’s official channels, I would’ve believed I’m looking at AI-rendered images of the concept.
Yup – it’s that wild. It carries a futuristic four-door grand tourer silhouette characterized by an elongated torpedo-like design and rakish windscreen, which sweeps past the front doors. Aerodynamic fins emerge from the front end and flow toward the A-pillar. No door handles, thin split headlights, with cameras replacing traditional mirrors. It’s wild!
The taillights closely resemble those found on current production Kia models, such as the K4. The yellow/gold paint is contrasted beautifully by that black panel under the windshield, which gives you the illusion that the hood is shorter than it is.
It follows what Kia calls "Opposites United" design theme, which is what its newest electric vehicles, the EV4, EV5, and EV6, are based on. Everything wild aside, it does look like a spiritual successor to the Stinger, and that’s not bad, is it?
Moving to the interior, the cabin is fiercely "lounge-inspired," thanks to its roomy layout. That airy, lounge-like cabin is further accentuated by the elaborate glass roof, which looks like an expensive repair if you end up cracking it. The dashboard, steering wheel, and driver's seat are all wrapped in beautiful leather, while the lounge chair-type passenger and rear bench seats get a different finish made of off-white fabric.
At the center of that interior is a yoke-style steering wheel, which, according to Kia, "reimagines the next-generation intuitive driving interface." Well, we’ve seen tons of such yoke-style steering iterations – some are a fan of them, some aren’t, so I’ll leave it up to you to be the judge of it.
The concept sports three digital driving modes: Speedster, Dreamer, and Gamer. You get an AR Head-Up Display (HUD) that shows all pertinent data on the windshield and offers a customized, engaging driving experience.
As for the technical specifications, there are hardly any details for now. It’ll most likely be an electric. It’s too soon to say for sure if this concept will become a production model, but Kia does say "full information on the car will be released in the near future."
If it does indeed end up seeing the light of day, it will likely come as the flagship EV8 GT, possibly to compete against the likes of the Tesla Model S or Porsche Taycan.
This concept comes at a time when Kia America posted its best quarter and highest year-to-date sales in company history. It delivered 65,507 units in September of this year alone, an 11% increase over September 2024, while reporting a sale of 219,637 units in that particular quarter – a new record for the company. Exciting times for the South Korean carmaker!
Source: Kia
