The Kia EV9 has won the highly coveted Gold trophy at the 2024 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) presented by the International Designers Society of America (IDSA).
The prize marks Kia’s first Gold IDEA accolade and a clean sweep of the three most important global design awards for the brand following the EV9’s successes at the Red Dot ‘Best of Best’ and iF Design Gold awards earlier this year.
Kia received the prestigious Gold trophy in the Automotive and Transportation category for its EV9 all-electric flagship SUV at the IDEA 2024 awards ceremony, which took place on September 12 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas. This accolade reinforces the EV9’s design excellence and originality, and the innovative nature of Kia’s acclaimed ‘Opposites United’ creative philosophy.
Karim Habib, Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design, said, “Guided by the principles of our ‘Opposites United’ creative philosophy, at Kia we are dedicated to the creation of inspiring and authentic products that fulfil customers’ emotional needs just as powerfully as they do their mobility, practicality and sustainability requirements.
“Good design should always represent the relationship between our users, our products, and our brand, and we believe that the EV9 achieves that. To have the creative and innovative nature of our design values recognized – first by the Red Dot and iF Design Awards, and now with a Gold at IDEA – is immensely gratifying, not just for the Kia design team, but for all our global colleagues. Such recognition inspires us to continue pursuing groundbreaking sustainable mobility solutions for our customers.”
Unpacking the EV9’s award-winning design
The EV9 represents the essence of ‘Opposites United’, which harnesses the creative tension generated by the divergent values of nature and modernity to deliver a harmonious whole.
This philosophy inspired Kia’s designers to dispense with conventional thinking and create a groundbreaking EV with a bold and authentic character, pushing the boundaries of design, usability, connectivity and environmental responsibility.
Defined lines and smooth surfaces characterize the EV9, while signature features such as the Digital Tiger Face, Digital Pattern Lighting Grille and vertical headlamps add to its unique futuristic appeal. These aesthetic qualities helped EV9 achieve top honors at the Red Dot and iF Design awards, and secure Gold at IDEA 2024.
This year marks IDEA’s 44th anniversary, making it one of the longest-running and most prestigious global design award programs. Unaffected by shifting fads or transitory styling, the annual competition focuses purely on identifying and honoring the pinnacle of design excellence. The EV9’s Gold trophy in the Automotive and Transportation category comes seven years after IDEA awarded Bronze to the Kia Telluride Concept in 2017.
The EV9 spearheads Kia’s strategic commitment to maintaining its leadership in global sustainable mobility. The all-electric seven-seat SUV was the first production car to incorporate Kia’s 10 ‘must-have’ sustainable items, which have gone on to feature in all of the brand’s new models and embodies Kia’s commitment to developing natural and bio-based materials.
Since its launch in 2023, the EV9’s design values and broad customer appeal have achieved flagship global success. In addition to the Red Dot, iF Design and IDEA trophies, the EV9 took two trophies at the World Car Awards 2024 as the overall winner (‘World Car of the Year’) and the best electric vehicle (‘World Electric Vehicle’).
