Kia wins top German auto design award

SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Wednesday that it has won top honors in a German design and brand contest thanks to the overall competitiveness of its vehicles. The carmaker said it grabbed one of the "Best of Best" awards in the Automotive Brand Contest organized by the German Design Council, which has been instrumental in fueling competition and growth in Germany's industrial design. The inaugural automotive contest was set up to honor outstanding achievements in the fields of automotive brand management, brand communication and vehicle design during the International Motor Show in Frankfurt. The award gives Best of Best titles in 12 segments on top of naming winners. These segments cover such fields as exterior and interior design, brand design and car accessories. "Winning the top honor in the Brand Design segment is noteworthy because Kia competed with renowned German brands," the company said in a press release. The carmaker, which is a sister company of Hyundai Motor Co., also said the council selected its Optima sedan, Rio subcompact and Sportage crossover sport utility vehicle as winners in the automobile exterior field. The latest recognition comes after Kia-made cars have won a string of awards such as the Red Dot Design Award, the International Forum Design Award and the 2010 Good Design Award, the company said. Kia, meanwhile, said that it has launched its brand new K2 subcompact car in the Chinese market that is specifically designed to meet local consumer demand for a stylish, competitively priced car. The car, a follow-up to the company's Pride model, has a 107-horsepower engine with 13.7 kilogram-meters of torque and a fuel economy rated at 16.4 kilometers per liter of fuel. It will have a wheelbase of 2,570 millimeters, the longest for the subcompact segment. Kia said the K2 aims to appeal to young Chinese in their 20s and 30s with sales expected to reach about 50,000 units this year.