The new Kia Ceed arrives: South Korea's answer to European compacts

A fierce battle is being fought in the compact segment, one that has many participants. This conflict is due to the strong success of the compact segment, a class of vehicles characterised by offering great versatility. Kia has been fighting for victory since 2007 with the Ceed, one of the most successful vehicles in its segment since its creation. However, it has taken eleven years for the Korean brand to show all its cards with this new generation.

With this new Ceed, the brand has made sure to give it a more European approach with the intention of adapting its products to the needs of its customers around the world. At the same time, this is something the Korean compact has in its DNA, since it has been produced in Slovakia since its first generation. However, the new Ceed presents major changes compared with its predecessors, with which it shares only the name and place of origin.

The first thing that catches the eye in the Kia Ceed is its renewed styling, which fits perfectly with current design standards. We find a redesigned front end that still keeps the brand’s essence, with a grille common to various Kia models. At the same time, the rear presents a series of improvements that give the Ceed a much more attractive and youthful style.

The cabin of the Korean compact offers a wide variety of improvements over the previous generation, adopting many elements from its bigger brother, the Stinger. It features an interior that exudes greater quality and, at the same time, incorporates the latest technological novelties. Despite offering a new seven-inch infotainment screen, the Ceed has a conservative dashboard without any showiness, which makes it more pleasant to look at and less confusing when operating all of its systems.

At the same time, the Ceed is wider -almost 20 mm more than its previous generation- and lower, two key elements for offering a much more dynamic vehicle on the road. It also achieves this thanks to the new K2 platform developed by Kia, which is the perfect partner to house the Ceed’s new engines.

To be more precise, the Korean compact has a tuning with a perfect balance between comfort and sportiness. To achieve this harmony, the Ceed is offered with various engines, starting from a 1.4 multipoint-injection unit capable of producing 100 CV, the most sensible option if its use will be mainly urban. As an intermediate option we find a 1.0 direct-injection unit producing 120 CV and, at the same time, this engine is surpassed by a 1.4 T-GDi of 140 CV.

As for diesel engines, we find a 1.6 CRDi offering outputs of 115 and 136 CV, figures that come from the same block. As standard, all engines are paired with a six-speed manual gearbox, and both the T-GDi and CRDi can be fitted with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, which will be the perfect ally for more comfortable and precise driving.

But it is not only the engines that characterise this new Kia Ceed, but also all the technology it incorporates. This can be seen both inside and in terms of safety, since the Korean compact offers a multitude of driving aids. Among them we should highlight the automatic headlight control assistant, lane change assist and collision avoidance assist, among others.

Another novelty worth noting is the lane-keeping assist, a system that gives the Kia Ceed Level 2 autonomy. This innovation detects the lines on the road so that the compact stays in its lane on the motorway while controlling acceleration, braking and steering based on the cars ahead. This system works up to a maximum speed of 130 km/h.

Kia has wanted to offer not only an innovative, fresh and accessible vehicle, but also a safe one for its customers. To meet this goal, the Korean brand offers every buyer a warranty of up to seven years or 150,000 kilometres, which gives owners near-total backing throughout the Ceed’s useful life. For now we do not know the official prices of the compact, but we do know it will be available from the third quarter of 2018 with a strong drive to conquer Europe.

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackKIA Ceed10 versions · from 25,815 €