Kia's amazing renascence has come full circle with the unveiling of the brand new Ceed. It's technically called cee'd, but no amount of good design justifies punctuation of that inanity.

The last Ceed (well, technically still today's Ceed) was the first car Kia had ever made that had a shot against the mainstream hatchbacks beyond just being really cheap.

But, first and foremost, it remained a 'reasonably priced car' - one in which to put stars, to drive around a track on a TV show, for instance.

This new one takes things a good couple of steps further, however, with a design that almost qualifies it 'rakish', and a genuinely alluring interior that follows the Sportage and Rio blueprints, but betters them both.

Due to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the new Ceed will go on sale towards the end of the year, with prices probably raised slightly compared to the outgoing car, mimicking those of its sister car, the new Hyundai i30.

So, its starting point will be in the same ballpark as the Focus and Golf, but further up the range it will offer more equipment for less, and therefore better value. Or so Kia will claim. And it'll still have a seven-year warranty.


Kia's not talking engines or anything at the moment, but does suggest that this will be a much better car to drive, thanks in part to a wider track.

It's lower than the last one, but it's also longer, so it will offer more legroom than before and probably get around the headroom issue by sitting its occupants lower down.

Kia says the Ceed's "coupé-like proportions" come by way of "strongly sculpted door surfaces, a steeply raked A-pillar, sweeping roofline and integral rear spoiler."

The increasingly familiar 'tiger grille' dominates the front, and there's a set of daytime running LEDs.


In the cabin, "carefully considered precision detailing gives the cabin a more prestigious look and feel than that of the current generation model," and it's made from stuff that feels softer to touch then before.

But the feature we're most looking forward to touching are the Subway door handles, which we've named as such because, in Kia's words, they're "built up in a layered sandwich of high quality materials." See, like a Subway.

More news will no doubt come at the show, including, we assume, the announcement of a sub-100g/km eco version. They're all at it these days.