Latest additions to Kia’s line-up recognized for their design quality, workmanship, innovation, eco-friendliness, ergonomics and safety.

Kia Motors has emerged as a double winner following the announcement of the iF product design awards for 2011, receiving the prestigious design prize for the all-new Sportage compact CUV and the all-new Optima D-segment sedan. In addition to design quality, the jury also recognizes a number of other criteria, including workmanship, level of innovativeness, eco-friendliness, ergonomics and safety. One of the main focuses in this year’s awards was on the participants’ brand image.

Since its launch in 1953, the annual iF product design award has been one of the world’s most important prizes for excellence in design. The award has its origins in the product show “Die gute Industrieform” (Good Industrial Design) initiated by the Hanover trade show and is now one of the world’s largest design competitions. For the iF product design award 2011, the organizers received 2,756 submissions from 43 countries for products registered in 16 categories. Kia Sportage and Kia Optima won in the category “Transportation Design.”

The dynamic and stylish Kia Optima, which celebrated its European debut at the Paris Motor Show 2010, has emerged as a top-seller in several countries. In the domestic Korean market the sporty sedan went straight to the top position in the D-segment, and is the very first Kia to have achieved this while the award-winning third generation of the Kia Sportage marks a dramatic shift in design direction for the compact SUV. Embodying Kia's newfound visual dynamism, the new Sportage successfully blends the key features of an SUV – the commanding driving position, heightened sense of security and raised ground clearance – and all of this is contained in a sleek and urban-friendly design with global appeal. The key design element of new Sportage’s purposeful stance is the relationship between its high shoulders and narrow glasshouse.