Kia has presented full details of its Vision Meta Turismo concept during Milan Design Week, marking the model’s international debut after it was first shown in Korea last December to commemorate the brand’s 80th anniversary. The concept is on display at Salone dei Tessuti in Milan until Sunday 26 April.
A Grand Tourer for the Digital Age
The Vision Meta Turismo is positioned as a forward-looking reinterpretation of the classic grand tourer, drawing deliberate inspiration from the speed and elegance of 1960s long-distance motoring. According to Kia, the concept visualises the brand’s vision for a new era of mobility — one that brings together dynamic driving performance, immersive digital interaction and lounge-like cabin comfort under a single design language.
The exterior is built around an extreme cab-forward architecture, giving the concept a low, wide profile that Kia describes using the term “soft geometric” — a language where faceted surfaces with smooth transitions create sharp, light-catching forms that feel simultaneously sculpted and organic.
The low front end features a receding lower section housing functional components, reinforcing what Kia calls a floating body aesthetic. At the rear, flowing curves give way to a sharp, cut-off tail with an ultra-thin horizontal LED light signature that wraps around the rear corners to emphasise the car’s visual width. Above, a broad glass dome reveals a slender internal space frame through its geometric panels.
Kia’s designers cite jet aircraft as a key source of inspiration — specifically the canard, a small wing-like structure positioned ahead of a plane’s main wing — which informed the shape of the structure housing the upper headlights and rear-view cameras.
Two Cabins in One
Inside, the Vision Meta Turismo offers two distinct seating environments for driver and passenger. The driver’s zone is built around focused, functional immersion: lightweight structure, mesh materials designed for airflow, and minimal instrumentation optimised for performance driving.
The passenger seat shares the same design language and materials but is structurally different, offering a more relaxed, lounge-like position. Notably, it can rotate 180 degrees when stationary, allowing the front passenger to face rear occupants directly.
A central feature of the interior is a suite of analogue controls that trigger digital and haptic responses. These include a joystick-style virtual gear selector designed to recreate the sensation of shifting gears, a launch control and GT Boost button for full-power activation, and a dial controlling virtual engine sound and suspension sensitivity.
A Steering Wheel That Thinks Like a Controller
The concept’s steering wheel represents perhaps the most unconventional element of the interior. Inspired by gaming controllers, it functions as a central interface offering three distinct digital experience modes: Speedster, Dreamer and Gamer.
Speedster mode focuses on a physical sensation of speed through a wide-angle augmented reality head-up display and dynamic light and sound effects. Dreamer mode layers AR content over urban environments for passengers via both HUD and AR glasses. Gamer mode activates when the car is parked, turning the vehicle into a shared gaming environment through the AR HUD, the steering wheel and an external projector.
Concept, Not Production
Kia has not made any announcements regarding production plans for the Vision Meta Turismo. The concept remains a design and technology showcase, intended to communicate the brand’s long-term direction for electric mobility rather than signal an imminent production model.
The Vision Meta Turismo is currently on display alongside several of Kia’s other EV concept models at Salone dei Tessuti, Via S. Gregorio 29/A, Milan, until 26 April.
