You have to feel for the Kia ProCeed – it does not have an easy life, trying to be the “hip” version of the competently mainstream Kia Ceed (née C’eed). Originally a three-door “coupé” in the vain of the Renault Megane Coupé, it had to suffer the ignominy of having its name spelled Pro_Cee’d (decidedly uncool). For the third generation, however, Kia decided to turn the model into a cool (that word again!) five-door “shooting brake”, looking to models from way beyond the circle of the model’s usual competitors.
In particular, it is clear that Kia’s designers really, really wanted their newest creation to evoke the much more expensive Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo. Just look at the details – the full-width light strip that connects the upper edges of the slim rear lights, the heavily raked rear window with a prominent spoiler and a small rear side-window, a jutting fake diffuser at the base of the rear bumper. Unfortunately, the Proceed does not possess the wide and low proportions that make the Panamera so purposefully squat – instead, it looks somewhat tall and narrow, while the long rear overhang cannot be masked by some clever detailing in the side of the rear bumper.
That said, there are two things that you have to give to the ProCeed’s designers. First, unlike the production Sport Turismo, they faithfully copied the Sport Turismo Concept’s rear hatch, incorporating the license plate into the rear bumper, sacrificing the hatch opening size at the altar of style. Second, the small “shark-fin” detail in the rear side-window looks both dynamic, importantly, unique on a car that otherwise tries too hard to look like the Porsche.
