Kia Cee’d

The new Kia Ceed, now in its third incarnation, is a five door hatchback and estate, called a Sportswagon (SW). Competition is tough for the Ceed as it’s up against the Ford Focus and the Volkswagen Golf. This new version is up there with the best mid sized hatchback and the estate is a particularly strong Motability offering. Kia has developed sharp new underpinnings for the Ceed to make it more engaging to drive and it does perform well. The seats are supportive and there’s more than enough adjustment for tall drivers to get comfy in the front seats. There’s plenty of room for adults in the back and the 395-litre boot is larger than a Volkswagen Golf or Vauxhall Astra.

Entry-level 2 models come with an impressive amount of equipment, including cruise control, 16-inch alloy wheels and LED brake lights. You also get a reversing camera and 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone mirroring, DAB digital radio and Bluetooth connectivity. Blue Edition cars have 17-inch wheels and LED headlights and brake lights, 8.0-inch touchscreen with built-in sat nav, DAB digital radio, partial faux leather trim for the front seats, reversing camera, cruise control and rear parking sensors. ‘3’ trim adds tinted windows, 17-inch alloy wheels and partial faux leather seats with electric lumbar adjustment for the driver, cruise control, rain-sensing wipers and dual-zone air conditioning. GT Line cars have 17-inch alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, heated front seats and steering wheel, dual-zone automatic air-conditioning, a reversing camera and Android Auto/Apple CarPlay.  First Edition cars have an upgraded JBL stereo and a wireless charging pad for your phone. The front seats come with leather upholstery and 10-way electric adjustment including lumbar support and you get a heating function for the front seats, outer rear seats and the steering wheel as standard. Also included are LED headlights and brake lights, cruise control and automatic parking.

The engine line-up is a 1.0 litre and a 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol and a 1.6 diesel in 114bhp and 124bhp states of tune. All cars are built on Kia’s new K2 platform, and are all front-wheel drive. A six-speed manual is standard, with a seven-speed DCT dual-clutch gearbox available with the 1.4 petrol and lower-powered diesel. Most drivers will find the 118bhp 1.0-litre T-GDi powerful enough and it can return up to 52.3mpg. The 1.4-litre T-GDi petrol with 138bhp hits 62mph in 8.6 seconds, without using a great deal more fuel than the smaller engine, 48.7 mpg. The 1.6-litre CRDi returns up to 74.3 mpg but now requiring occasional AdBlue top-ups, in 114bhp guise 0-62mph takes takes 10.5 seconds and  9.4 seconds as 134bhp. All models come with a six-speed manual gearbox. The 1.4-litre petrol and the 1.6-litre diesel have the option of a seven-speed automatic.

The Kia Ceed Sportswagon (SW) offers a 600 litre boot putting it well in contention with the Volkswagen Golf Estate and Skoda Octavia Estate. The loading lip is now lower for easier access and higher trims get a 40:20:40 in place of a 60:40 rear-seat layout that can be folded with levers in the boot, further increasing convenience. Plenty of thought has gone into the space, too, with a useful storage area under the boot floor to hide valuables, and a handy luggage-rail system in First Edition trim. Estate cars start at Nil Advance Payment with 1.0 litre petrol in ‘2 Nav’ trim. Automatic cars start at £1099 AP.

Full Kia Ceed Pricing

 Summer Best Buy – Kia Ceed ‘3’ 1.0 litre 118bhp petrol 5 door Hatchback Manual  –  Nil Advance Payment  (£63.79 wpms) or £349 (£66.09 wpms) as an Estate