FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Kia stretches the hot hatch

Kia has come clean on a strikingly sleek concept car that “indicates what the next-generation cee’d could look like” and therefore could come to Australia as a belated replacement for the discontinued pro_cee’d GT hot hatch.

Dubbed the Proceed Concept and teased in a single image released last week, the low-slung five-door fastback features a rakish roofline and compact footprint, and is claimed to present a new body type from for the Korean car-maker.

“The extended hot hatch retains the athleticism of the current pro_cee’d model, while combining its striking visual presence with a dash of real-world versatility,” said Kia.

“Reworked and reimagined for a new generation of driver, it puts forward a bold vision for a potential member of the next-generation cee’d.”

Designed at Kia’s European design centre in Frankfurt, just 500 metres from where it will be unveiled at the German motor show on September 12, the Proceed Concept bears a number of key design features.

Not least of these is a plunging rear window line that follows the roofline to the rear tailgate and is punctuated by a ‘Sharkblade’ graphic – with GT logo – to emphasis the lack of a B-pillar, plus chunky, triangular air inlets in the front and rear bumpers.

Then there’s an illuminated outline of the car’s glasshouse, dubbed ‘Luminline’, which greets drivers as they approach the car, plus 20-inch six-spoke allow wheels, bespoke ‘Lava Red’ paintwork created with multiple hand-applied layers of black, chrome-effect silver,and red-tinted lacquer.

Up front, naturally, is a more dramatic take on Kia’s trademark ‘tiger nose’ grille, a sculpted ‘island’ bonnet inspired by the Stinger and a castellated windscreen that extends into full-length glazed roof.

“With many European drivers now seeking performance alternatives to the three-door hot hatch, we began thinking about a different halo model for the cee’d family,” said Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer Europe for Kia Motors.

“The Proceed Concept represents a bold new vision of how the vibrant soul of the pro_cee’d could be reincarnated and revitalised for a new generation of performance-oriented drivers.”

Kia Australia has always said the turbocharged pro_cee’d GT could return Down Under if it became available with five doors and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, as the standard cee’d now is in Europe.

Kia’s current pro_cee’d GT -- a weirdly-named, three-door, manual-only hot hatch -- which was discontinued here due to slow sales in late 2015, but its replacement could be reinstated here and positioned as a performance model below the upcoming rear-drive Stinger sedan.

As well, the Proceed Concept could signal the general design direction of Kia’s next Cerato, which is expected to debut in sedan form at the Detroit motor show in January. It’s due on sale here by mid-2018, with a redesigned Cerato hatch to follow in the second half of next year.

Like Europe’s next cee’d, both Cerato models will borrow heavily from Hyundai’s slick new i30 and Elantra, bringing big advances in performance, dynamics, refinement and technology.

Kia will also use next week’s Frankfurt show to reveal its facelifted Sorento large SUV (in new GT Line trim), which is expected in local showrooms around October, and the new Picanto X-Line mini-crossover, which is “highly unlikely” to be seen in Australia, says Kia.

Stand by for more details and first interior pics of the slick Proceed Concept next week.