Kia earns gong at 2012 IDEA Awards, completing hat trick

Kia Motors’ small-sized Pride, known as the Rio overseas, won a bronze medal in the transportation design category at the 2012 IDEA Awards, the company said yesterday.

Korea’s second-largest automaker has now collected trophies at the world’s top three design awards.

The IDEA Awards is organized by the Industrial Design Society of America and are considered among the greatest honor that can be bestowed on a product, along with gongs from Germany’s International Forum Design Awards (iF Awards) and the Red Dot Awards.

The sister company of Hyundai Motor won its first Red Dot Award in 2009, when its Soul won the Honorable Mention award in the product design category. Kia’s other car models - Venga, K5, Sportage R and Morning - also captured the honor at the same awards, as well in other years. Kia models have also picked up awards at the iF Design Awards for three consecutive years from 2009 to 2011.

“After winning awards from Red Dot, iF and IDEA, we think our design management has been acknowledged worldwide,” Kia said in a press release. “We will remain competitive in terms of quality and design keep satisfying our customers.”