The critically-acclaimed Kia Sorento racks up two more awards, this time for its product design.
Kia might shortly be needing a bigger award cabinet, as the multi-award winning Sorento has recently picked up two more globally renowned awards in the form of the Red Dot Award and the iF Award for its product design.
Despite only having launched last year, the new Sorento has actually had more than a handful of awards to its name already. Most notably of which perhaps is the German ‘Golden Steering Wheel 2020’ award in the ‘Large SUVs’ class, as well as the ‘Women’s World Car of the Year 2021’ same category.
Moreover, this is not actually the first design award that the Sorento has picked up too. Having previously won the 2020 GOOD DESIGN award in the transportation category, alongside the new Kia K5.
It is perhaps not surprising though that this large South Korean SUV continues to pick up this string of product design awards. In fact, it would perhaps be more surprising for the Sorento not to win either of these awards as the ‘design-led Kia brand’ has already established a rather large collection of these awards from its past portfolio of models.
In terms of Red Dot awards, a staggering 26 Kia models have already won this coveted design trophy since the Soul nabbed the automaker’s first one back in 2009. As for iF gongs meanwhile, the tally for the South Korean car manufacturer now stands at 21 with the Sorento’s latest win.
Now to those unfamiliar with the new Sorento, this latest four generation model touted to be the marque’s most refined and spacious iteration to date. Based on the automaker’s new SUV platform and featuring a range of petrol, diesel and even PHEV powertrains under the hood, there has unfortunately been no word thus far however on when exactly this critically acclaimed 7-seat SUV will be arriving on Malaysian shores.
PRESS RELEASE: The multi-award-winning new Kia Sorento has received two more globally renowned awards. The brand’s flagship SUV has won both the Red Dot Award and the iF Award for its product design.
With this latest recognition in the Red Dot and iF awards, the design-led Kia brand continues its extraordinary series of successes in the two competitions. Since the Kia Soul was the first vehicle from a Korean brand to receive the Red Dot in 2009, a total of 26 Kia models have been awarded the coveted ‘red dot’. And in the iF Award, which the brand received for the first time in 2010, the number of award-winning Kia vehicles has risen to a total of 21 with the new Sorento.
Shortly after its premiere last year, the new Sorento was honored for its outstanding design in the ‘All-Wheel Drive Car of the Year 2020’ poll by Auto Bild Allrad. A short time later, it received the most important German automotive award, the ‘Golden Steering Wheel 2020’ in the ‘Large SUVs’ class. In March this year, it was voted ‘Women’s World Car of the Year 2021’ in the ‘Large SUV’ category.
“When designing the new Sorento, we looked to evolve the robust, aesthetic of earlier generations, while applying a greater degree of refinement and elegance. Indeed, the concept of ‘refined boldness’ inspired the whole process – with the result being, we believe a mature and balanced, yet confident design. We’re delighted that prestigious awards bodies like Red Dot and iF have recognized this work.” said Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Center.
Red Dot and iF: Two of the most important design awards worldwide
The Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award are among the largest and most important design competitions in the world. The Red Dot Award is announced annually by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen and is divided into three disciplines: Product Design, Brands & Communication Design and Design Concept. In the tradition-steeped ‘Red Dot Award: Product Design’, with a history going back to 1955, manufacturers and designers from 60 countries participated with 7,800 products in 2021. The entries were assessed by an international jury of around 50 independent designers, design professors and trade journalists from various sectors. In addition to aesthetics, the product design competition also evaluates criteria such as degree of innovation, functionality, ergonomics, self-explanatory quality and ecological compatibility.
The iF Design Award has been organized since 1954 by iF International Forum Design GmbH in Hanover, one of the world’s leading independent design institutions. This year, the competition, for which more than 9,500 entries were submitted by participants from 52 countries, featured several innovations. These include a digital preliminary round (‘Online Preselection’), in which half of the submissions are selected for the final round (‘Final Jury’), a transparent evaluation of all categories, including new disciplines ‘user experience’ (UX) and ‘user interface’ (UI). The other categories are Product, Communication, Packaging and Service Design, Architecture, Interior Design and Professional Concepts. This year, the iF jury consisted of 98 independent international design experts. All award-winning products are published in the “iF World Design Guide” (ifworlddesignguide.com) and in the “iF Design App”.
