Posts Tagged Ceed
Kia Ceed – You Reap What You Sow
Kia has well and truly planted its cee’d in the UK car market.
And while it has a number of things going for it, the most talked about is its warranty package. You’ll probably get fed up with the car long before that runs out…
Although that might be a bit unfair, because the new Kia is such a good all round package that you could very conceivably opt to buy another one. But, as Hyundai owners found out with the five-year deal offered by the Korean giant on its new products, it makes shifting the car second-hand an easier proposition when you can sell it after three years with two years of the deal still to go. Now Kia have beaten that with a incredible seven-year 100,000-mile warranty on the new cee’d, which went on sale in the UK in February. It’s probably the most important car they have ever launched in the UK, taking over from the worthy but not exactly top-selling Cerato. It’s been designed in Europe, because if you want a car to appeal to Europeans the only place to put it together is in Europe. It’s built in Europe at a new state-of-the-art factory in Slovakia. And it’s sold exclusively in Europe. And to make it sell, they’ve given it a Euro hatchback look, with the sort of neat five-door styling that makes it look not a lot different to its main rivals, the Focus/Golf/307/Astra/Megane quartet in the C sector. Later in the year comes the three-door, and Motoring Citizen readers probably won’t have missed the convertible concept we featured a while back. If that doesn’t get people into cee’d ownership, then I don’t know what will. Where they’ve attempted to win over converts – apart from with the warranty – is in the standard equipment, which includes driver and front passenger active head restraints (you can never have too many safety features in my opinion); aircon with a cooled glovebox; and USB port, AUX input and MP3 capability on all but entry-level models because they know we all like using our iPods.
Our test car, the 1.6 diesel-powered offering, combined decent performance with good economy over our time behind the wheel, and the clutch and five-speed gearbox have a synchronicity that others will be envious of. Quick, smooth changes prompt you to tick the ‘exemplary’ box. Brakes are good, progressive and with no snatching, so you can bring it to a quick halt without any dramas and, while there’s a bit of body roll evident if you indulge in some exuberant cornering, it has an overall user-friendly set up that will win it a lot of chums. Ride is comfortable, and it absorbs potholes and undulations well. Seats are OK – not over-supportive, and maybe a bit on the flat side, but certainly comfortable enough. You can drive a fair way without any aches of pains to distract you. Its wide-track, long wheelbase and relatively tall roofline means here is plenty room aboard for five adults, and there’s a decent boot for luggage too, before you start playing around with the rear seats to get Great Aunt Maud’s antique chest of drawers back home.
It’s roomy and well-priced, starting at under £11,000 on the road, with our test car, an LS spec vehicle with the 1.6 CRDi engine, the most expensive at £14,245. With its 115bhp and 255Nm of torque at 1900rpm upwards, acceleration was again given good marks. Not earth-shattering, but not at all bad.
The interior is neat without setting the world on fire but the info panel in the centre gives all the relevant information you could possibly need. There’s also a set of lights to let you know if those in the back are belted up. A neat touch but possibly a bit superfluous.
Like I said, the cee’d’s been planted, and it will grow. Kia are aiming for three per cent of the UK market and 100,000 sales annually. It’s not an unrealistic target.
Tags: Ceed, ReapAnd while it has a number of things going for it, the most talked about is its warranty package. You’ll probably get fed up with the car long before that runs out…
Although that might be a bit unfair, because the new Kia is such a good all round package that you could very conceivably opt to buy another one. But, as Hyundai owners found out with the five-year deal offered by the Korean giant on its new products, it makes shifting the car second-hand an easier proposition when you can sell it after three years with two years of the deal still to go. Now Kia have beaten that with a incredible seven-year 100,000-mile warranty on the new cee’d, which went on sale in the UK in February. It’s probably the most important car they have ever launched in the UK, taking over from the worthy but not exactly top-selling Cerato. It’s been designed in Europe, because if you want a car to appeal to Europeans the only place to put it together is in Europe. It’s built in Europe at a new state-of-the-art factory in Slovakia. And it’s sold exclusively in Europe. And to make it sell, they’ve given it a Euro hatchback look, with the sort of neat five-door styling that makes it look not a lot different to its main rivals, the Focus/Golf/307/Astra/Megane quartet in the C sector. Later in the year comes the three-door, and Motoring Citizen readers probably won’t have missed the convertible concept we featured a while back. If that doesn’t get people into cee’d ownership, then I don’t know what will. Where they’ve attempted to win over converts – apart from with the warranty – is in the standard equipment, which includes driver and front passenger active head restraints (you can never have too many safety features in my opinion); aircon with a cooled glovebox; and USB port, AUX input and MP3 capability on all but entry-level models because they know we all like using our iPods.
Our test car, the 1.6 diesel-powered offering, combined decent performance with good economy over our time behind the wheel, and the clutch and five-speed gearbox have a synchronicity that others will be envious of. Quick, smooth changes prompt you to tick the ‘exemplary’ box. Brakes are good, progressive and with no snatching, so you can bring it to a quick halt without any dramas and, while there’s a bit of body roll evident if you indulge in some exuberant cornering, it has an overall user-friendly set up that will win it a lot of chums. Ride is comfortable, and it absorbs potholes and undulations well. Seats are OK – not over-supportive, and maybe a bit on the flat side, but certainly comfortable enough. You can drive a fair way without any aches of pains to distract you. Its wide-track, long wheelbase and relatively tall roofline means here is plenty room aboard for five adults, and there’s a decent boot for luggage too, before you start playing around with the rear seats to get Great Aunt Maud’s antique chest of drawers back home.
It’s roomy and well-priced, starting at under £11,000 on the road, with our test car, an LS spec vehicle with the 1.6 CRDi engine, the most expensive at £14,245. With its 115bhp and 255Nm of torque at 1900rpm upwards, acceleration was again given good marks. Not earth-shattering, but not at all bad.
The interior is neat without setting the world on fire but the info panel in the centre gives all the relevant information you could possibly need. There’s also a set of lights to let you know if those in the back are belted up. A neat touch but possibly a bit superfluous.
Like I said, the cee’d’s been planted, and it will grow. Kia are aiming for three per cent of the UK market and 100,000 sales annually. It’s not an unrealistic target.
Related posts
The Kia Ceed – Easy To Sell Hard To Spell
Could estates be making a comeback? MPVs and SUVs have been taking a big chunk out of that market in recent years. But companies like Kia think that trend may be in reverse gear.
They point out that the lifestyle and leisure vehicles are becoming expensive to buy and run and have styling and design compromises.
So Kia have plenty of confidence in their new cee’d SW – their first ever estate car. Not only is it a practical and stylish newcomer, it also comes with an industry-best seven-year or 100,000-mile warranty – an unrivalled expression of faith in the cars coming out of Zilina in Slovakia.
The cee’d SW (I can never remember how to write it, although I’ve learned to say it) has the same wheelbase as the highly-acclaimed five-door hatchback, and an identical front end. Even the rear doors are the same. But the body has been stretched by 235mm and the SW is 10mm taller and has smart roof rails to set it apart.
Kia have done a clever thing by extending the tailgate into the rear roofline, so that owners can stand closer to the car when sorting luggage – the big cutaway area also gives excellent access for loading and unloading.
The load floor is also dead flat and at bumper level, so that luggage can simply be slid on or off and rear seats fully rumble to create a truly horizontal platform.
Kia blot their copybook slightly by providing a rather naff pull-down boot strap – not terribly high-tech but practical, I suppose.
The end product is that the SW model can hold almost 300 litres more than its stablemate hatchback.
And let’s not forget the 55 litres of space in trays beneath the boot floor – a handy touch.
Kia also point out that the SW version is only £700 more than the equivalent hatchback whereas rivals such as Ford Focus estate, Vauxhall Astra estate and Renault Megane Sport Tourer are about £970 more for the equivalent.
Apart from a dingy interior (old fashioned black and grey two-tone seat fabric, black dash with grey underneath, dull grey roof and pillars), I liked the cee’d SW and found it a practical, solid and smart medium estate.
Doors shut with a convincing thud and the soft-feel upper dash and doors are tactile.
Comfortable seats have big, wide cushions and are handily height adjustable, with a rotating wheel for accurate rake control.
The dashboard is very low level and simply sorted for easy identification on the move but the bonnet slopes away so sharply that none of it can be seen when manoeuvring.
The speedo, flagged up at 20/40/60 marks, misses the important 30mph and 70mph numbers but main displays are clear and readable on the move, despite their quirky cut-off needles.
The 1.6 petrol model I tested does need a heavy right foot to pull the best out of it but it does eventually respond well with plenty of clout, even if it’s a bit boomy at the top end.
A positive five-speed gearbox is solid and has an predictable, easy change, but a clonky action.
Handling is predictable but unremarkable and this isn’t the sort of car for a thrash around the lanes or to take out just for the hell of it.
Steering, in particular, is a little woolly and uninvolving.
But the SW’s sheer usefulness and solid value will win it many friends as estates make a fresh attack on the leisure market.
http://www.motorstoday.co.uk/viewarticle2.aspx?sectionid=549&articleid=3702910
Factfile:
* Kia cee’d SW, prices from £12,995-£14,995.
* Made in state-of-the-art factory at Zilina in Slovakia alongside acclaimed five-door hatchback cee’d.
* Best-in-industry seven year/100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.
* Body stretched by 235mm compared with hatchback and 10mm taller, excluding roof rails.
* Luggage capacity of 1,664 litres with seats folded flat.
* Three 1.6-litre engines; one petrol and two turbodiesel.
* Five-speed gearboxes as standard but four-speed automatic available with the petrol engine.
* Estate model aimed predominantly as a fleet car.
* Exceptionally stiff bodyshell, aerodynamic shape.
* Independent front and rear suspension benefits ride and handling.
Tags: Ceed, Easy, Hard, Sell, SpellThey point out that the lifestyle and leisure vehicles are becoming expensive to buy and run and have styling and design compromises.
So Kia have plenty of confidence in their new cee’d SW – their first ever estate car. Not only is it a practical and stylish newcomer, it also comes with an industry-best seven-year or 100,000-mile warranty – an unrivalled expression of faith in the cars coming out of Zilina in Slovakia.
The cee’d SW (I can never remember how to write it, although I’ve learned to say it) has the same wheelbase as the highly-acclaimed five-door hatchback, and an identical front end. Even the rear doors are the same. But the body has been stretched by 235mm and the SW is 10mm taller and has smart roof rails to set it apart.
Kia have done a clever thing by extending the tailgate into the rear roofline, so that owners can stand closer to the car when sorting luggage – the big cutaway area also gives excellent access for loading and unloading.
The load floor is also dead flat and at bumper level, so that luggage can simply be slid on or off and rear seats fully rumble to create a truly horizontal platform.
Kia blot their copybook slightly by providing a rather naff pull-down boot strap – not terribly high-tech but practical, I suppose.
The end product is that the SW model can hold almost 300 litres more than its stablemate hatchback.
And let’s not forget the 55 litres of space in trays beneath the boot floor – a handy touch.
Kia also point out that the SW version is only £700 more than the equivalent hatchback whereas rivals such as Ford Focus estate, Vauxhall Astra estate and Renault Megane Sport Tourer are about £970 more for the equivalent.
Apart from a dingy interior (old fashioned black and grey two-tone seat fabric, black dash with grey underneath, dull grey roof and pillars), I liked the cee’d SW and found it a practical, solid and smart medium estate.
Doors shut with a convincing thud and the soft-feel upper dash and doors are tactile.
Comfortable seats have big, wide cushions and are handily height adjustable, with a rotating wheel for accurate rake control.
The dashboard is very low level and simply sorted for easy identification on the move but the bonnet slopes away so sharply that none of it can be seen when manoeuvring.
The speedo, flagged up at 20/40/60 marks, misses the important 30mph and 70mph numbers but main displays are clear and readable on the move, despite their quirky cut-off needles.
The 1.6 petrol model I tested does need a heavy right foot to pull the best out of it but it does eventually respond well with plenty of clout, even if it’s a bit boomy at the top end.
A positive five-speed gearbox is solid and has an predictable, easy change, but a clonky action.
Handling is predictable but unremarkable and this isn’t the sort of car for a thrash around the lanes or to take out just for the hell of it.
Steering, in particular, is a little woolly and uninvolving.
But the SW’s sheer usefulness and solid value will win it many friends as estates make a fresh attack on the leisure market.
http://www.motorstoday.co.uk/viewarticle2.aspx?sectionid=549&articleid=3702910
Factfile:
* Kia cee’d SW, prices from £12,995-£14,995.
* Made in state-of-the-art factory at Zilina in Slovakia alongside acclaimed five-door hatchback cee’d.
* Best-in-industry seven year/100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.
* Body stretched by 235mm compared with hatchback and 10mm taller, excluding roof rails.
* Luggage capacity of 1,664 litres with seats folded flat.
* Three 1.6-litre engines; one petrol and two turbodiesel.
* Five-speed gearboxes as standard but four-speed automatic available with the petrol engine.
* Estate model aimed predominantly as a fleet car.
* Exceptionally stiff bodyshell, aerodynamic shape.
* Independent front and rear suspension benefits ride and handling.
Related posts
Sporty 3 Door Hatch Kia Pro Ceed
The sceptics who thought that Kia only made cheap cars will need to re-think. The newest range of Pro Ceed appears to have proven that the most critical will need re-consider their opinion.
Kia have produced a well made sporty looking 3 door hatch which offers exceptional quality for a car of this class. The Pro Ceed is said to be the sporty version of the already popular Ceed range. The new sleek look is in part due to the slightly longer body coloured doors. The door inlays have be given a stylish metallic finish which coordinates with the console of the car adding to the overall stylish appearance of the Pro Ceed.
The exterior style looks impressive. It is complimented by black bezel lamps and trendy alloy wheels which come as standard across the range. Pro Ceed is available in the latest bright colours which includes a very chic white, which is a real head turner.
Taller people will be pleased to know that the interior head room is very generous. Anyone would have to be well over six foot before their head brushed the roof. Back seat passengers are also offered generous head room even with the sloping of the roof. The longer doors enable easy access for rear seat passengers, four people can travel in comfort with the generous back seat leg room allowance.
Kia have given careful consideration to personal comfort. Seats have leather trim and are fully adjustable. The entire range includes air conditioning as standard along with USB and AUX sockets which are iPod compatible. Interior storage has been optimised, the rear seats fold to provide additional luggage space when needed.
The Pro Ceed is easy and relaxing to drive. Road handling is positive even on tight corners. With a six speed gear box the Pro Ceed handles well on both rough and smooth road surfaces. Although not designed as an off-road car, it can handle uneven surfaces pretty well for a car of this class.
Kia are in no doubt as to the quality of their cars, as such they offer an unrivalled 7 year or 100,000 mile warranty across the range. This in itself speaks volumes as to the precision manufacture and careful thought the designers have put into this sporty style car.
With low CO2 emissions and an average 58mpg, the Pro Ceed offers exceptional economy, along with trendy styling and a very competitive pricing. The Kia Pro Ceed range includes two petrol and three diesel engines.
The price range also takes some beating. Approved Kia dealerships are also offering some very tempting special offers, combined with the reduction in VAT, the Pro Ceed offers outstanding value for money.
The Kia Pro Ceed is definitely worth giving serious consideration to for anyone looking to buy a new car with sleek lines and a sporty style. Arrange for a test drive to dispel any doubts you may have had about the quality, road handling and style of a car manufactured by Kia.
Tags: Ceed, Door, Hatch, SportyKia have produced a well made sporty looking 3 door hatch which offers exceptional quality for a car of this class. The Pro Ceed is said to be the sporty version of the already popular Ceed range. The new sleek look is in part due to the slightly longer body coloured doors. The door inlays have be given a stylish metallic finish which coordinates with the console of the car adding to the overall stylish appearance of the Pro Ceed.
The exterior style looks impressive. It is complimented by black bezel lamps and trendy alloy wheels which come as standard across the range. Pro Ceed is available in the latest bright colours which includes a very chic white, which is a real head turner.
Taller people will be pleased to know that the interior head room is very generous. Anyone would have to be well over six foot before their head brushed the roof. Back seat passengers are also offered generous head room even with the sloping of the roof. The longer doors enable easy access for rear seat passengers, four people can travel in comfort with the generous back seat leg room allowance.
Kia have given careful consideration to personal comfort. Seats have leather trim and are fully adjustable. The entire range includes air conditioning as standard along with USB and AUX sockets which are iPod compatible. Interior storage has been optimised, the rear seats fold to provide additional luggage space when needed.
The Pro Ceed is easy and relaxing to drive. Road handling is positive even on tight corners. With a six speed gear box the Pro Ceed handles well on both rough and smooth road surfaces. Although not designed as an off-road car, it can handle uneven surfaces pretty well for a car of this class.
Kia are in no doubt as to the quality of their cars, as such they offer an unrivalled 7 year or 100,000 mile warranty across the range. This in itself speaks volumes as to the precision manufacture and careful thought the designers have put into this sporty style car.
With low CO2 emissions and an average 58mpg, the Pro Ceed offers exceptional economy, along with trendy styling and a very competitive pricing. The Kia Pro Ceed range includes two petrol and three diesel engines.
The price range also takes some beating. Approved Kia dealerships are also offering some very tempting special offers, combined with the reduction in VAT, the Pro Ceed offers outstanding value for money.
The Kia Pro Ceed is definitely worth giving serious consideration to for anyone looking to buy a new car with sleek lines and a sporty style. Arrange for a test drive to dispel any doubts you may have had about the quality, road handling and style of a car manufactured by Kia.
Related posts