Kia Cee'd

Kia Cee'd (ED)

Manufacturer	Kia Motors
Production	2006–present
Assembly	Žilina Plant, Žilina, Slovakia Kaliningrad, Russia (Avtotor) Zaporizhia, Ukraine (AvtoZAZ)
Predecessor	Spectra/Cerato
Class	Small family car
Body style	5-door hatchback 5-door Station wagon 3-door hatchback
Engine	1.4 L I4 Gamma 1.6 L I4 Gamma 2.0 L I4 Beta 1.6 L turbodiesel I4 'U' 2.0 L turbodiesel I4 'D'
Transmission	5-speed manual 6-speed manual 4-speed automatic
Related	Kia Pro cee'd Hyundai i30 Kia Forte Hyundai Elantra Hyundai ix35

The Kia Cee'd is a front wheel drive small family car released in the European market by the Korean manufacturer Kia Motors in December 2006—superseding the Kia Spectra—and available as a five-door hatchback, three-door hatchback ("pro_cee'd"), and five-door estate ("cee'd SW") with a choice of up to four engines (two petrol and two diesel), three trim levels (1, 2 and 3 – previously S, GS, LS and SR) and either manual or automatic transmissions. It is the only car with an apostrophy in its name.

The Cee'd was designed in Frankfurt, Germany, with Miklós Kovács leading the design team. Cars are manufactured in the Kia factory in Teplička nad Váhom, Slovakia.

The Cee'd shares the same platform as the Hyundai i30, as does a redesigned version of the Cee'd, marketed elsewhere as the Kia Forte, which is not sold in Europe (except for Russia, where the Cee'd and the Forte are available together).

Beginning in 2010 the Cee'd receives Kia's new corporate grille, known as the Tiger Nose — as designed by Kia's design chief, Peter Schreyer.

Safety

The Kia Cee'd earned a Euro NCAP 5 star safety rating for adult occupants for the pre 2009 model. It is also fitted with six airbags (including curtain airbags) as standard even in countries like Ukraine where safety options were usually stripped in comparison with other countries.

• Adult Occupants score - 34
• Child Occupants score - 37
• Pedestrians score - 11

The Euro NCAP results also showed that the dashboard can become a threat to the driver and passenger's knees in the event of a front collision, despite having 6 airbags in the car and the Cee'd also scored the maximum available points for the side impact and pole tests.

Variants

Kia cee'd squad car of the Polish Police

Kia Pro cee'd Concept

According to German Kia site, as of January 2012, Kid cee'd variants are representing 7th edition of these models.

Kia Pro cee'd

Kia debuted Kia Pro cee'd, a 3-door variant of the cee'd, at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show, and began marketing the model in January 2008.

Kia ex cee'd

Kia ex_cee'd Concept

Kia's ex cee'd cabrio concept car premiered at the 77th Salon de l'Automobiles in 2007 Geneva. Based on the new three-door cee'd hatchback (Pro cee'd), the ex_cee'd shares the same platform, but features all-new exterior panels and a powered folding fabric roof.

Kia eco cee'd

Kia revealed a concept of its pro cee'd line, with improved aerodynamics and mild hybrid engine tuning to the diesel engine, under the name "eco_cee'd". The concept models were fitted with ISG (Idle Stop&Go) and Smart battery Power Management — which included regenerative braking.

Hybrid version

Kia previewed a hybrid cee'd concept at the 2008 Paris Auto Show, and operates an evaluation fleet of in Europe — with the hybrid models featuring an electric motor powered by a high-voltage battery mounted behind the rear seats.

Media

On 27 June 2010, the Kia Cee'd was revealed as the new reasonably priced car for the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment of the top-rated UK television programme, Top Gear, where presenter Jeremy Clarkson deliberately mispronounces the name as "See apostrophe Dee" describing it as "the only car with an apostrophe IN its name". The version used has a minimum curb weight of 1,263 kg, and was priced at £13,930.

Outside Europe

The Cee'd is currently available only in European markets (as the Kia Forte, already sold outside Europe would then be in direct competition with the Cee'd) and in Iran and South Africa, where it was imported in August 2009.

Reception

• Auto Express - New Car Honours - Special Honour for seven year warranty
• Autocar - 'Idea of the Year' for cee'd seven year warranty
• What Diesel Car?- Hatchback of the year
• Towcar awards 2007
• Camping Fritid(Danish Camping magazine, from DCU) - Camping car of the year 2007
• UK survey, cee’d ranked in first place in the Driver Power’s Compact Family category to beat out Volkswagen, Toyota, Fiat and other notable competitors in the segment. Driver Power is Auto Express’s car owner reliability and satisfaction survey which presents the frank and honest views of drivers in the UK.
• Top Gear named it runner up in their car of the year award for 2009 (broadcast 3 January 2010). They then named it as their new "reasonably priced car" for series 15.
• German auto magazine ACE Lenkrad, Kia Cee'd surpassed the Toyota Auris and the Volkswagen Golf.
• German auto magazine Autobild, Cee'd was rated higher than the Toyota Auris, Citroen C4 and Honda Civic.
• Austria auto magazine Autotouring (2007.4), Cee'd was rated above Toyota Auris, Volkswagen Golf, Mazda 3.
• Danish auto magazine Motor, Kia Cee'd is the first car to ever earn the 6 out of 6 rating.
• Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare found in the yearly long-distance test (one year, 40 000 km) that Kia Cee´d had the highest second hand value among all cars the magazine had tested through the years.
• German car magazine AutoBild tested the Kia Cee'd during 100,000 km. Just a few flaws, ranked as high.
• France’s motoring publication L’Automobile Magazine, The Kia cee’d won a 2009 quality/reliability survey in the compact-car category.

External links

• Kia cee'd, international