Kia Stinger, Stonic, and Picanto at the Red Dot Awards

Kia family wins three times at the Red Dot Awards, held in Milan. Stinger, Stonic, and Picanto models succeeded in the blazoned design competition. To be precise, we are talking about three different segments. Respectively, great tourism, urban crossover, and city car. The three awards are all included in the “Product Design” category. Furthermore, success arrived not long after the iF Design Awards, where small Koreans achieved similar results. Both competitions are the top in the design field, so winning them is a great achievement for a brand. The prestigious jury of the Red Dot Awards also awarded the Stinger with the self-explanatory title of “Best of the Best“.

Kia and the Red Dot Awards through the years

In total, Kia has already collected 21 awards at the Red Dot Awards. First of the class was the Kia Soul in 2009, which brought home an “Honorable Mention“.

«Our global design team can be proud of this triple triumph. A result that underlines the passion and uniqueness expressed by the style of the brand, elements once again recognized as unique by a group of international experts», says Peter Schreyer, President and Chief Design Officer Kia Motors Corporation. «Winning the Red Dot: Best of the Best for the fourth time is really an exceptional result». The last Kia to earn the coveted title was the Optima in 2016.

63 years of history

The year was 1955 when the first version of the competition took place in Germany. In the 2018 edition, the 6,300 candidate products represented as many as 59 countries. Three categories of registration: Product Design, Communication Design and Design Concept. Decision-making parameters are based on innovation, formal quality, functionality, and sustainability. An independent and international jury of 40 members expressed the sentences. Among these professionals, expert designers, professors of the subject and specialized journalists. The awarding of the titles, in honor of the competition, will take place in Germany, in Essen, on July 9th.

Cifa design at the Red Dot Awards

In 2014 it was the Cifa Energya concrete truck mixer to win the prestigious award. In 2015 instead, the futuristic Coguaro 4 reached the top of the ranking. A Perkins 1106 beat under the bonnet of the handy machine for concrete. It is a 6-cylinder with 7.1 liters displacement, capable of 121 kW at 2,200 rpm and 690 Newtonmeter at 1,400 rpm. Under the hood, Bonfiglioli Trasmital, Comer Industries, Linde, and Sauer also played a major role.

The refinement of design is now a trademark of the most recent Cifa production. In fact, in 2016, the company of Senago won again with the Spritz Csse. It means winning three titles in a row. It is certainly due to the successful design under which technology rules. In the case of Spritz Csse, it was born to extend the know-how of the hybrid part to a proven shotcrete machine. The aim was to enhance its tunnel operation. The design is the result of a close synergy with Cifa’s design office. It had to take into account specific constraints on overall dimensions and components with regard to the cab, chassis, electric motor, batteries, and heat engine.

Cifa Styling Center

Samuele Montorfano and Marco Monticelli of the Cifa Styling Center showed us the path. «Being able to intervene only on external components in carpentry, we have enriched the geometries with surface changes in order to obtain a more dynamic silhouette. We have also equipped the vehicle with some new elements such as the arm distributor cover, the under cabin compartment, which in this case hosts the recharging socket and new carter to protect the headlights». Other interventions have involved the livery, which adopts the same color combination of the Energya. The choice emphasizes the geometry of the machine, creating a real “family feeling” for the hybrid range of Cifa.