'5+1' with Marilia Biill – Head of CMF Design at Kia

We are pleased to showcase inspiring, strong women in the field of CMF Design as we value meticulous attention to detail and quality materials employed in car interiors. Today, we present you in our ‘5+1’ interview Marilia Biill, Head of CMF Design at Kia.
Marilia tells us more about her current job at Kia and what a typical day on her job involves. We will learn more about innovations in colour, material and finish design, and which will significantly impact the automotive industry. Besides Marilia lets us known how the CMF design contributes to Kia’s design philosophy, and how the team ensures that the choice of colour, materials, and finishes aligns with the brand's identity and customer preferences. In addition, we learn more about the importance of eco-friendly materials and processes at Kia. Last but not least, Marilia is sharing her experience building a career as a woman in the mobility world, and Kia’s efforts towards promoting gender equality and diversity.

1. You are Head of CMF Design at Kia. Can you walk us through a typical day in your life in this role?

Kia is an exciting place. There are many things happening, it's an effervescent environment full of projects and ideas going around. A typical day for me demands high concetration as we switch from one project to another in a second. It goes from brainstorming about bio fabrication to checking a few models that will be presented next day. My team is very active and we interact all day long in a mixture of samples, models, boards and sometimes a team breakfast to relax a bit. As we have CMF designers also collaborating from USA, Germany, China and India, we also have many exchanges with them on the global trends and projects. Which is of great value as it keeps us informed about the markets and adds a local perspective to the projects.

2. As the Head of CMF Design at Kia, could you share any recent or upcoming projects or innovations in colour, material, and finish design that you find particularly exciting or believe will significantly impact the automotive industry?

I believe we are experiencing a material revolution. Technology is finally allowing us to be closer to nature and via Biomimicry we can apply its solutions to benefit human needs reducing the environmental impact. The topic I'm mostly excited about is Bio-Fabrication. We are investing a lot on it, not only financially but also in manpower and we were able to present this studies in the Showcars at the EV Day.  Our goal is to grow our materials in the future, to reduce processes, simplify assembling lines and most important to work on regeneration, to help our planet to heal.

3. Kia is known for its innovative and distinctive design language. How does the CMF Design team contribute to Kia's design philosophy, and how do you ensure that the choice of colour, materials, and finishes aligns with the brand's identity and customer preferences?

We faced an amazing transformation in the past few years. Everything has been re-created and modernised. From the new brand identity to our Oposites United Design language, every single detail is taken into consideration. From the CMF Design perspective, we've made two main things:
– We created a Design Sustainability Strategy, that allowed us to act fast and be effective. Applying what we call "10 must have" sustainable items to all new Kia models.
– We created a CMF Design Vision: which was made in collaboration with all CMF designers, as a shared vision for our future.

It shows what we want to achieve in terms of material experience, colour identity, details and surface treatment and of course, the future regeneration.

4. In terms of sustainability and environmental consciousness, how does CMF design at Kia prioritise eco-friendly materials and processes while maintaining design aesthetics and functionality?

It's a challenge and demands efforts from many teams. It's not only about Design but also about feasibility, investments, exchange with many partners, daily hard work. Right now we believe that sustainability can be the driver. That we can even play with the aesthetics results generated by the sustainable materials. For example, we did experiments using natural dying, and the colours generated by this experiments can be the ones used in our models. We are also searching ways of reducing processes, that means we apply finishes that excludes paint or extra coatings. This naturally leads to new aesthetics, which as you know, if it comes from nature is always beautiful and impressive.

5. As a woman in the mobility industry, could you share your experience building a career in this field and discuss Kia's efforts in promoting gender equality and diversity?

I've been surronded by men during my whole career. The automotive industry has been male dominated all over the world for many reasons and it's of course very challenging in many aspects. I feel that we are finally seeing progress as the most modern and progressive companies are making great efforts to promote diversity, which brings better results, better relationships and therefore better products. At Kia the support and recognition I receive from my upper management shows that the company is open for the change and will hopefully keep evolving in this direction.

And the +1 question from Marilia to you:

“Considering that more than 80% of the planet biomass consists of plants, how can we make sure we co-exist and protect them well to improve our future?”

Thank you, Marilia, for your valuable contribution to the '5+1' interview. For more insightful perspectives from women in the industry, we invite you to explore the '5+1' section of our magazine to delve deeper into the subject.

Pictures: Kia