If you think minivans are rather “blah,” you certainly are not in the minority. These traditional family haulers are boxy, designed more to move people and their possessions than to give buyers a reason to swoon over their visage.

The utilitarian look of minivans is under assault from both without and from within. Without, the crossover segment offers much of the same room, but much more practicality and better styling than most minivans. From within, the automakers are at least attempting to put some juice in this all too predictable segment, with Honda Odyssey attempting to appeal to men more than just moms and kids.

Design Language

Until recently, Kia was never considered to be a design leader, offering mostly bland, boxy models and hiding in the shadow of its Korean brother, Hyundai. That all changed in the 2000s, when Kia’s California design studio was unleashed to design and build some of the most stylish cars on the road. A prime example of that new design language thinking can be found in the Kia Soul, its urban utility vehicle.

The Soul has shown us that Kia does, indeed, have a soul. Since the car’s debut other Kia models have received similar design freedom, becoming far nicer and modern vehicles than earlier models.

Kia KV7

At auto shows across North America beginning in 2011, Kia brings a model certain to force people to rethink what a minivan should look like. Dubbed the Kia KV7, this seven passenger minivan features a smug grille, 20-inch wheels, gull wing doors and a family activity center for rear passengers. Yes, why get stuck with a car that is boring when you can build one that is stylish even if it defies logic?

The logic defying attribute for the Kia KV7 are its gull-wing doors. Nice look, but not a practical idea. Opening these doors means invading the space of neighboring cars not by much, but by enough to make a difference. Likely, if the KV7 is built, sliding doors will be offered – I can’t imagine too many mothers being comfortable with kids riding in the back with gull-wing doors ready to pop up upon command.

Cabin Amenities

Inside, the Kia KV7 features four custom-built swiveling seats, including the driver’s seat – not practical for when you’re driving, but possible a fun thing to have when the vehicle is stopped and you’re ready to have some family time. A rear-corner “mini-lounge” with seating for three is for the remaining passengers; no word whether an optional wet bar will be available!

Other cabin features include the requisite generous storage space, wi-fi capability, sliding dashboard, navigation system and an infotainment system. Today’s cars are as much about the technological experience as they are about the look, feel and ride.

Performance Importance

Under the hood, the Kia KV7 is powered by a 2.0-liter GDI turbocharged engine, expected to produce 285 horsepower. Paired with a six-speed automatic transmission, this vehicle could offer a nice balance of performance and fuel economy, something minivan buyers cherish.

Will the Kia KV7 go into production? Quite possibly so, especially if it loses its gull-wing doors, a safety issue for some. In a market dominated by the Dodge Grand Caravan, Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna and Chrysler Town & Country, the Kia KV7 certainly brings something different to the table, underscoring Kia’s desire to remain relevant in this still important vehicle segment.

Well, as I said in the previous post that ‘Go small & green’ is the most in thing in the Paris Motor Show, 2008 or rather I should say this is the latest concept of the automakers, this motor show is unveiling a number of cars that advertises this concept. To me it seems to be that these green concept cars are mere promotion gimmicks or just ways to pacify the demand for lower emission vehicles (not to forget, obviously with lower fuel consumption levels.)

Popularizing the word ‘greenery’ that forms a part of almost every news from automotive industry, these cars are replies to issues on increasing global warming. In order to compete in the market and build up their image of being environment- conscious, almost all major automobile players are unveiling ‘their eco- friendly cars’.

While Renault comes up with Zero Emission i.e. ZE cars, Fiat is introducing this year its Pur 02 – that’s a car which would run only on thin air. Besides these, there are dozens of such cars being launched this season. Some of the top promises or special features of these green cars are: stylish models with neon glass, acid-green windows for better insulation thereby saving energy, minimum carbon dioxide emission, fuel efficiency, modified gearboxes, enhanced aerodynamics, 1.2-litre petrol engine and more.

Looks like the auto industry is soon to be packed with these cars that are ready to make the world green. Will it make some difference to the environment? The question arises – ‘Is the grass greener on the other side of the fence?’

The ongoing Geneva Auto Show has seen the unveiling of many advanced vehicles. From concept to production cars, the event has seen them all. One of the production vehicles to have graced the event is the all-new X-Trail from Nissan.

The Asian brand has finally shown the European auto scene what they have developed to replace the previous generation of the X-Trail. It can be remembered that the first generation of X-Trail received a very warm acceptance from car buyers across the global market. Nissan is now hard pressed to come up with a new version of the X-Trail which will exhibit the characteristics of the old X-Trail and which also will add to the mix new features that will make the new Nissan X-Trail more convincing for car buyers to purchase.

To come up with an idea of what they need to do to the second generation of X-Trails, Nissan has conducted a survey among their customers and asked what areas and features of the X-Trail did they like. The result showed that the majority of Nissan X-Trail owners loved the vehicle for its practicality, design, ease of use, and, of course, driving performance.

Nissan’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Strategy and Product Planning, Carlos Tavares, emphasized on these attributes of the X-Trail in his speech at the unveiling of the vehicle. “Customers love X-Trail’s convenience, its practicality, its strong performance and off-road capability. When we planned the new X-Trail, we were determined to keep those X-Trail roots, but enhance the entire vehicle,” Tavares said.

It is apparent that Nissan has restyled the new generation X-Trail but it still retains the robust and strong shape that auto enthusiasts liked about the original X-Trail. The shoulder line, glasshouse, and the window lines are similar to the first generation X-Trail. The new generation of the vehicle looks good enough even without.

While there are design concepts copied from the original Nissan X-Trail, the newest version offers an improved interior comfort and a new kind of practicality for every driver or passenger. While the interior of the vehicle offers comfort and convenience, it also offers practicality. This is shown in the placement of the instrument cluster behind the steering wheel which makes it easily visible to the driver. While allowing that, the placement also provides ample room for the center console.

The versatility and practicality of the new generation Nissan X-Trail is evident in its trunk. When compared to the previously released X-Trail, the new generation sports 145 liters more of trunk space at 555 liters. The design of the trunk and the enlargement of the area behind the last row of seats allowed the integration of a sliding drawer under the trunk floor. The space underneath the floor gives the Nissan X-Trail owners extra luggage space and a place to stow away valuable items.

The versatility of the X-Trail is further exhibited in the drawer with its partition walls which can be positioned in various ways. But if the owner of the new X-Trail needs more luggage space without having to use the drawer underneath the floor, both the drawer and the floor can be taken out.

Since the Nissan X-Trail is made to handle not so ordinary road conditions, it is equipped with a four-wheel drive configuration. Nissan has introduced their all-wheel drive system ALL MODE for the first generation X-Trail. It is only logical that the new version of the vehicle should also have an improved version of the all-wheel drive system. The current version of the system is now called as the ALL MODE 4x4i.

Improvements over the previous version of the vehicle include the Downhill Drive Support (DDS), and Uphill Drive Support (UPS). The DDS is activated manually via a switch in the center console. This system maintains a speed of 7 km/h when going downhill. This means that the driver can concentrate solely on steering instead of having to worry about the speed of the vehicle. The UDS, on the other hand, is automatic in nature. The system kicks in when it detects more than a 10 percent incline. The system activates the brakes until the driver starts to move forward.