You could be forgiven for thinking this swoopy concept was penned by the design studios of one of the exalted Euro car manufacturers, but -- believe it or not -- it's the handiwork of Korea's rapidly emerging Kia brand.
The svelte sports coupe concept is scheduled to debut at this month's Frankfurt motor show, and it's said to preview the marque's future design direction.
There's a reason the car has such a heavily Euro flavour, and that's because it was, in fact, designed in Europe by Kia's chief design officer, Peter Schreyer.
The all-new 2+2 sports coupe concept -- whose name remains a secret at present -- will demonstrate a new design ethos for the Korean automotive company, according to the manufacturer.
"The new sports coupe concept is a clear and emphatic statement that the future of the Kia brand is set to be one that will excite and surprise an entirely new audience of consumers," said Schreyer.
"In making this design departure for Kia it was essential to my thinking that we did not lose sight of the fact that the Kia brand must continue to appeal to customers in the mainstream.
"It would have been easy to present an extreme supercar at Frankfurt that would attract plenty of attention, but could have no place in Kia's future. Our sports coupe concept is not simply a flight of fancy."
The sports concept seems a long way from bread-and-butter offerings such as the Rio, but it isn't the first mould-breaking design study from the Korean carmaker.
At last year's Paris motor show it gave us the attractive Pro-cee'd concept, while this year it's already unveiled the offbeat KND-4 SUV concept. The concepts are further proof of how far Kia (and parent company Hyundai) has progressed over the past two decades.
However, while the global picture is positive, Kia has lost ground in Australia since the company took over control of its local operation from former importer Ateco Automotive.
It notched up 20,770 Australian sales in 2006, compared with 25,293 units for the 2005 calendar year, when Ateco was in charge. VFACTS figures show the brand has lost further market share so far this year.
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