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Kia electric concept car for Geneva displays a 21-screen salute

Kia is going to show an electric concept car at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show (we got our first look last week), and the automaker has revealed some interesting and even funny details about the car ahead of time. For starters, there will be 21(!) individual high-resolution screens in this puppy. The teaser photo of the interior is showing off a lot of them, but don't fret, there are still more in there somewhere. Kia isn't exactly serious about this kind of a setup; here's a section of the press release for you as an example: "In a humorous riposte to the industry's current obsession with ever increasing dashboard screens, the concept features 21 individual ultra high-resolution screens. These curve their synchronized way across the top of the dashboard in a layout that's at the same time both casual and coordinated." So yes, it's a joke. But it's still sort of incredible a concept like this one will exist. We don't expect 21-screen interiors to be reality anytime soon, especially when the folks who designed it agree that it's completely laughable, too. What comes next in the release is also a bit confusing. Kia says this is its first pure-electric four-door passenger car — nothing wrong there. However, it then goes on to say it combines elements from "a muscular sports utility vehicle, a sleek and athletic family saloon and a versatile and spacious crossover." SUVs and crossovers are mentioned twice there, but this is meant to be a four-door passenger car? The teaser makes it look like the concept is much more car-like than a crossover, but it could be deceiving. A hint of black cladding is shown in this side profile shot as the closest hint to its intentions of being more crossover-like. Another interesting detail here is the evolution of Kia's tiger nose grille we saw introduced on the Stinger. It looks like future Kia electric cars will have a "tiger mask" (ha) instead of a traditional flow-through grille. We dig the normal design itself on the Stinger, and the teaser itself doesn't disappoint. The car/crossover/combination thereof will be revealed in Geneva on March 5, so check back then to see the full concept. Related Video:

Kia teases K5/Optima again, in two different ways

When Kia teased a drawing of the third-generation K5 sedan for the Korean market — our Kia Optima — the pictured red sedan adopted a fastback shape and detailing somewhere in between evolution and revolution. The South Korean automaker has teased the K5 a second time with two different takes on the next-gen four-door, one of them tipped all the way to the side of revolution, the other presenting a refined evolution. The revolutionary takes (second and third in the gallery above) look as if the spirit of SEMA bled across the Pacific to Seoul. In these two drawings, the K5 has been lowered, widened, given a jutting front fascia rife with intakes, set on giant wheels with rubber-band tires, and slathered in color-shifting violet and lavender paint. The leanness makes the family sedan look more like a coupe, especially from the hippy and winged rear three-quarter.  The evolutionary take (the silver car that's first in the gallery), found on Kia's Korean site, looks more like the car everyone has a chance of getting. The drawing provides a handsome basis for the exaggerations in the other renderings; everything's here from the SEMA-fied version, only toned down. We gather that, on the outside, designers intend to make their statement with the sheetmetal behind the B-pillar. The lines create a fastback profile, stressed by the chrome cradle running from one A-pillar, around the backlight to the other A-pillar. If the shutlines are accurate, the decklid will be split by a dark portion that acts to extend the rear window graphic and a body-colored panel. Racy vents aft of the rear wheels tie into wide chrome exhaust finishers and a prominent, slatted diffuser.  Kia's thrown a lot of copy at what it's going for with the next K5/Optima, talking about the "evolution of dynamics" and noting how this car will turn the "Tiger Grille" into the "Tiger Face." Part of that involves merging elements of the grille and headlights into a more organic piece. The K5 looks like it will adopt a restrained version of the new headlight-grille combination recently shown on the redesigned Hyundai Grandeur (our Azera, no longer on sale here). We'll be seeing more of it in the future.

Next-generation Kia K900 teased

Introduced for the 2015 model year, the current Kia K900 hasn't been around especially long, but Kia is already on the cusp of launching a second-generation of the full-size flagship sedan. An official reveal date wasn't provided by Kia, but we won't have to wait long to see the fully revealed car. The company said the sedan will go on sale in select markets during the second quarter of 2018. So expect to see it in a few months. In the meantime, Kia released the above teaser image. From what we can tell, the new K900, which was developed by both the Korean and U.S. branches of Kia, will look much leaner and better emphasize the car's rear-drive layout. A major contributor to this is how the base of the A-pillar is much farther away from the front wheels, providing a long nose that highlights the longitudinal engine up front. The trunk is more pronounced than on the current model, further making the car look longer and lower. The headlights should be distinctive with unique LED accents, and they don't sweep back along the fender like the current model, either, making the front look more blunt and tough. We expect the K900 to share its platform with the Genesis G90, just as the current one did with the old Hyundai Equus. That also means it will probably be available with both the twin-turbocharged 3.3-liter V6 and the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 in rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations. Related Video: