Kia set to Ceed ground
In Portugal last week, the top brass at Kia Europe were bullish about the launch of the third-generation Ceed model, which has lost an apostrophe but gained much else.
The Ceed — or Cee’d, as it used to be — has been a solid performer for the Korean manufacturer since it first appeared in 2007 and was given an overhaul in 2012. With the new 2018 car going on sale in Ireland and across Europe from August, the company is aiming to sell half-a-million of them in the coming years.
Having driven the rejuvenated third-generation machine last week, it seems pretty certain Kia’s optimism for the car is well placed.
With heavy emphasis on key elements such as design, engineering, equipping levels, and lowering maintenance costs, the Kia hierarchy is hopeful the Ceed will be the “centre of gravity” for company expansion across Europe in the coming years.
Ceed, which stands for Community Europe and European Design, is indeed a pivotal car for the Korean brand, competing as it does in the hugely demanding family car market.
The company is hopeful it will be big on conquest sales to allow the company expand on the 3% market share across Europe.
A very attractive, practical, and roomy car, it will come with a choice of petrol or diesel engines, while there will be an electric element introduced to the model line-up by next year by virtue of a ‘mild hybrid’. Plans are also in hand to introduce level-two autonomous driving systems.
In terms of that model line-up there will initially be a hatchback and an SW estate model, while the three-door version is being dropped. Plans are afoot to build a Shooting Brake version in the near future.
One of the main areas of improvement that the design team hit upon was in terms of the steering and suspension arrangements, primarily because the last car lagged so far behind the class leaders, the VW Golf and the Ford Focus.
The man behind all this work was Gert-Jan Teunis, who is employed by Kia’s sister company Hyundai but was redeployed to Kia for this project.
In Portugal, he outlined to the assembled motoring press how Kia had designed a chassis which was 30% stiffer than before, allowing the engineers to create a whole new dynamic on-road performance for the Ceed with the help of new suspension and steering elements.
Key in all of this is a new all-round independent suspension system, as against the old MacPherson strut front and torsion beam rear suspension.
Having sampled what was on offer over some pretty rough Portuguese surfaces, I think it is fair to say Kia’s optimism about the sales potential of the car is well justified.
The new car is one which can be driven enthusiastically by enthusiasts and also thoroughly enjoyed by those who know or care less and the hope within Kia is that the Euro-centric design and engineering will finally convince buyers in this part of the world that the company is capable of taking on the likes of VW and Ford.
Kia says the majority of initial sales will involve petrol engines, of which there are two, an existing 120bhp one-litre turbo unit and a new 1.4-litre 138-bhp engine, which replaces the existing 1.6. There will also be a diesel option in the shape of a 115/136bhp 1.6-litre turbodiesel.
There will be a choice of six-speed manual or seven speed auto gearboxes.
The company says it realised some time ago it would have to do something really special to make a serious breakthrough in this viciously competitive market segment and it is hopeful the combination of contemporary looks, the dynamic drive of the car, an impressive list of standard specification on cars of entry level up, and class-leading roominess (the boot space is larger than that of a Skoda Octavia Combi!), will do the trick.
Pricing, of course, will have a big bearing on the car’s success or otherwise and Kia Ireland has announced that the new range will cost from €22,695 through four trim levels to €28,595 for the topline model.
On that basis, we can see a bright future for the car and undoubtedly dealers will be smacking their lips at the prospect of this car being rolled out in August.
While Kia and its dealer network is undoubtedly basking in the glow of their achievements with the new Ceed, it is worth noting that the latest version of one of the class leaders and standard bearer in the family car market for many years, the Ford Focus, will be unveiled in the next month.
Depending on what Ford does with the new Focus — and we are anticipating they will do a helluva lot — it might just make the task of the new Ceed all that more difficult.
