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By Moses Akaigwe
Kia Corporation (Kia) has earned a Red Dot Award 2026: Design Concept for the Kia Vision Meta Turismo, with the futuristic sports sedan concept recognized in the ‘Cars and Motorcycles’ category.
Recognition from the acclaimed international design body underscores Kia’s global design leadership and reflects the continued relevance of the brand’s ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy in shaping progressive, human-centered mobility solutions.
Having made its global debut at Milan Design Week, the Kia Vision Meta Turismo reinterprets the grand tourer for the digital age and Kia’s next generation of customers.
Combining a striking cab-forward silhouette with a lounge-inspired interior, the car offers dynamic driving performance and immersive digital interaction, embodying Kia’s futuristic approach to a new era of electric mobility.
Karim Habib, Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design, commented:
“It is always an honor for everyone at Kia to receive a prestigious Red Dot Award, as it reflects the creativity, commitment and dedication of the countless people involved.
The Vision Meta Turismo represents an opportunity for us to experiment, challenge ourselves, and imagine future user experiences through design. It’s rewarding to see that work resonate with the jury, and motivating to see our ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy continue to connect with people around the world through our vision of future mobility.”
Why was Kia Vision Meta Turismo recognized by Red Dot?
The Kia Vision Meta Turismo was recognized for translating Kia’s future mobility vision into a distinctive concept that combines performance character, digital interaction and human-centered design.
The concept’s exterior design brings together an extreme cab-forward architecture and a soft geometric surface language that results in a modern, technical and futuristic piece of sculpture, creating a dynamic sports sedan that conveys speed, technology, and a new dimension of user experience.
Inside, the Vision Meta Turismo elevates driving to a multisensory level. Digital layers, intuitive physical controls and configurable experience modes combine to create a grand tourer for the digital age and transform electric mobility into a more deeply emotional and engaging experience.
How does the Concept Car express Kia’s Future Mobility Vision?
The Vision Meta Turismo explores mobility as a new relationship between speed, technology and human emotion. The car’s design brings together three core experiences these are the Performance driving, expressed through sports sedan proportions and a focused driver cockpit also the Immersive digital interaction, delivered through configurable modes and augmented digital layers and the Lounge-like space and comfort, reflected in the passenger zone designed to prioritize comfort and relaxation.
This approach demonstrates Kia’s commitment to exploring the convergence of speed, technology and human experience in future electric mobility. It also demonstrates how concept car design can help make future-facing ideas tangible and enable customers to visualize new, transformative mobility solutions and experiences.
How does the interior design of the Vision Meta Turismo enhance digital Interaction?
The Vision Meta Turismo creates separate but complementary spatial experiences. The driver cockpit is designed for optimum focus, control and immersion, while the passenger area emphasizes greater comfort, relaxation and enjoyment of AR content via 3D HUD.
Kia’s Add-Gear modular interface seamlessly connects occupants to the vehicle via configurable functions. By combining physical controls with digital layers, the technology allows interaction to be more intuitive and immediate, enabling users to enjoy an elevated experience of electric mobility in unprecedented ways.
The concept also features three configurable driving worlds modes – Speedster, Dreamer and Gamer – each creating a different
relationship between the vehicle, its occupants and the surrounding environment which are the Speedster heightens the sensation of performance driving through immersive visual, sound and lighting effects also the Dreamer uses digital layers to create a more reflective and immersive urban experience and the Gamer extends the connection between user and vehicle into stationary, gaming-inspired moments.
What does this award say about Kia Design?
The Red Dot Award recognition strengthens Kia’s position as a global design leader and underscores the role of concept vehicles in expressing the brand’s vision for future mobility.
The Vision Meta Turismo demonstrates how future mobility can connect speed, technology and emotion while remaining centered on human experience. The award also reinforces Kia’s ability to use design as a strategic tool, exploring ideas that may influence future products, interfaces and user experiences.
How does the Vision Meta Turismo’s success build on Kia’s Red Dot Award record?
Kia’s consistent performance at global design competitions reflects the strength of its longterm design strategy.
In the 2025 Red Dot Award: Design Concept, the Kia PV5 WKNDR Concept was named ‘Best of the Best’ and the Kia Concept PV1, Concept EV2, Concept PV5 and Concept PV7 received ‘Winner’ accolades. Kia’s ‘Best of the Best’ winners also include: EV6 (2022), EV9 (2024), EV3 (2025), and EV4 (2026).
The Kia brand is represented in Nigeria by Kia Motors Nigeria Ltd.
