Peter Schreyer

“The good thing is Kia can start top-down instead of bottom-up because it’s difficult to start with a small car (in India),” says Peter Schreyer, president and chief design officer of Kia Motors Corporation

When we design for India, it’s about the sizes and volumes that we have to care about

Taste-wise Indians want everything. Obviously the prices have to be lower and the quality in the lighting and the exterior should be more and more. Same with the electronics in the interior. And it's important to care about the space. Yet somehow I think people don’t only buy cars rationally, they buy cars with their hearts. This is where design comes into play.

We are trying to go in individual ways in terms of design for Kia and Hyundai

We have different approaches and design philosophies. Kia is a bit like a snow crystal. Very architectural, a little brittle but every snow crystal is different. And Hyundai is like a drop of water. Fluidic, it comes in different forms, it can flow faster. So Hyundai is maybe more nature-inspired, and Kia is more tech-driven.

We always say that Kia is more like the useful challenger while Hyundai is the charismatic leader

We did a design manifesto for our designers and I didn’t really want to use any industrial products or car details in it, only abstract images and text. And this is something we gave to every designer. For Kia it was a billiard ball, which is a high precision man-made object. It’s nice to touch, has a warmth to it but at the same time it’s very precise and flawless. For Hyundai, it was a river stone. Everyone is different and shaped by nature.

I think it is very important to have recognisable designs

We have the DNA that goes through all our cars all over the world, so no matter where you are, you can always recognise a Kia.

Only I want to avoid them all looking the same, especially because we are a volume brand, so we have a lot of cars, and if they all look the same, it would be terrible. It would be pretty boring. So we want to keep the main character, some amount of detailing but we always make a different variation, so if you look at our product range, you can see that.

Our biggest rival in India apart from Hyundai obviously is going to be Maruti Suzuki

I like the designs of some of their cars. Very strong. One of my favourites is the Ignis. There is so much character, and it stands out. Its design is very simple. And you can recognise it from a distance. That’s how you know it’s a good design.

For Kia it is the top down strategy that we are adopting

As far as I understand, you can be more or less successful with only cars that are made here. So that makes it difficult. Plus, it would be cool to see some Stingers here, although that’s not in the books, at least for now.

In India, I see that the challenge is not so much in the design

I think it is in the sales and marketing. The good thing is Kia can start topdown instead of bottom-up because it’s difficult to start with a small car.

Kia is considered a near-premium brand and if you look into our interiors too, they are made in a way that will give the customer a nice rewarding feeling. You get kind of a premium feel, even if we have to really see that we keep the costs down, but I think it is very important.

We have the DNA that goes through all our cars all over the world, so no matter where you are, you recognise a Kia