DOHA: Kia Motors has emerged as a multiple winner following the announcement of several influential annual design awards on three continents.
Most notably, Kia's two latest all-new models the Sportage CUV (pictured) and Optima sedan - were honored with the German-based iF product design awards for 2011 in the "Transportation Design" category. Since its launch in 1953, the annual iF product design awards have been one of the world's most important and largest competitions for excellence in design.
In addition to the cars' design quality, the jury also recognises a number of other criteria, including workmanship, level of innovativeness, eco-friendliness, ergonomics and safety.
One of the main focuses in this year's awards was on the participants' brand image. Kia began its corporate-wide design push in the mid-2000s and the investment in its design-led product line-up is now paying dividends.
Meanwhile in the USA, the all-new Sportage and Optima won the world's oldest and most coveted Good Design Award for 2010 in the transportation category, which is conferred annually by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design together with the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Good Design bestows international recognition upon the world's most prominent designers and manufacturers for advancing new, visionary, and innovative product concepts, invention and originality, and for stretching the envelope beyond what is considered ordinary product and consumer design. Over 500 products from 48 countries were considered for the 2010 awards and the Sportage and Optima were selected among winners.
In Kia's home market of Korea, Sportage (known as 'K5') were recognised by the Good Design Award 2010 (no relation to the above Good Design Award for 2010 in the USA). Introduced in 1985, the Good Design system is overseen by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) and Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), and products recognized under the system are given the Good Design mark.
© The Peninsula 2011
