The headlights and brakelights play an important design role, too, being oriented vertically and mounted right on the corners of the body to make the EV9 appear as wide as possible.

Habib gave some hints as to how Kia will look to imbue future mass-market models with similarly distinct characters while retaining popular appeal: “We want to be risk takers, and this is mainly the challenge that we have, obviously, designing things that have to sell millions of millions of units.

“We want our products to feel, even for us within the process, to feel initially a little bit unknown, a little bit uncomfortable. And as we get through it, we believe that we feel more and more comfortable, and more and more enriched or inspired by those products, and we want that journey to be what our customers feel as well.”

But Kia is just as keen to highlight the EV9’s pioneering interior, which breaks new ground for the marque by introducing a wealth of top-rung tech, an array of sustainable upmarket materials and unique packaging solutions in recognition of the fact that the car is becoming “more than just a vehicle to move people from A to B”, according to Kia.

The new-look dashboard is topped an expansive digital panel housing a trio of screens for use by the driver and passenger (complete with the most comprehensive array of connectivity-enabled functions yet) – and flanked by a pair of digital rear-view mirror displays which will be optionally available in the UK.