Sowing the Ceed of more success

WHEN Kia added the Ceed hatchback to its range in 2007 it was hailed as a step change for the company. It wasn’t necessarily the best in its class but it was such an improvement on Kia’s previous offerings that many, including us, heralded it as a new dawn.

So dramatic was the change that even Kia staff refer to the history of the company as being “Before Ceed” and “After Ceed”.

The car has been so successful that it was largely responsible for the 60 per cent rise in Kia sales between 2005 and 2010.

Importantly for the UK it was also the first Kia to be developed for Europe and the first Korean car to achieve a five-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests.

It’s not just the Ceed that’s doing well. Kia itself is on a roll too.

This latest generation Ceed is the fourth new model from Kia in 12 months and its sales and market share are on the up despite car markets falling throughout Europe. In fact Kia is now the fastest- growing car brand in Europe.

The new Ceed enters a very different world from that of its 2007 predecessor. The brilliance of the Kia Picanto, Rio and Sportage means expectations are higher than they were five years ago and merely being good and relying on customer goodwill is not enough.

As with other Kias of late the Ceed has been designed by Peter Schreyer, the man behind the original Audi TT and unlike some of its rivals the Ceed is anything but bland.

Initially there will just be a five-door hatchback with an estate following in October and a sporty three-door Pro-Ceed coupe arriving early next year.

Courtesy of express.co.uk