by Guilherme Marques
Kia’s slogan is the power to surprise. And indeed I would be very surprised if the new Cee’d Sportswagon wouldn’t surprise everyone
who drove it with its great looks and surprising quality
Legend has it Peter Schreyer – while working for Volkswagen – was given the task of designing a new concept for an upcoming car show. When he finished the scale model and showed it to VW decision makers, they responded: “We don’t like that, it looks too good. Volkswagens are not supposed to look that good.” And so he left.
Well, truth be told, I just made that up, but Volkswagen letting Peter Schreyer go for having strong ideas regarding VW’s design language seems as good a decision as Ferrari firing Alonso for being too fast. Still, that is what happened.
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Peter Schreyer has been with Kia as Chief Design Officer since 2006 and operated nothing short of a miracle. The Korean models have come from being neutral – his words – to recognisable from a distance (my words this time). The whole range has been completely renewed, with all new models in every segment of the market.
Algarve Resident was at the Viva Marinha Hotel in Cascais for the national presentation of the latest Kia Cee’d Sportswagon and – you guessed it – it looks really good. Designed, engineered and built in Europe, the new Cee’d wants to be a serious player in the C-segment. Besides the modern and very appealing lines, the overall sense of quality is fantastic, with good materials inside and a solid feel from all the controls and buttons. The ergonomics are up there with the best from the segment and the space in the back seats is more than enough for the kids. At 528 litres, the boot can fit your entire luggage and both dogs – it is positively huge.
Our press car was a 1.4 WGT CRDI with the highest level of equipment, the TX, which includes automatic wipers, led daylights, start-and-stop, six-speed manual gearbox, USB connection, retracting mirrors, electric handbrake, rain sensors, dual-zone AC, cruise control and all the other usual goodies of a higher segment model. Value for money is excellent at €25.295.
The 1.4 diesel engine packed 90 horsepower and had fuel consumption at the top of the priority list. So, with performance sacrificed – the Cee’d does not feel fast or eager to be driven hard – the board computer never showed more than 6.2 litres for every 100 km. If you take an eco-conscious approach to driving, you will easily get around 5 litres. The engine is smooth, if not extremely quiet, and there are no vibrations in the cabin; everything feels well built and life on board is as good as in any of the established European rivals (think Opel, Peugeot, Renault…)
In six years, Kia has created an identity for itself, an image, a place in the market. The ancient Greeks would say Kia has found its Ethos. As a graduate in Industrial Design, I cannot but admire all the work that has been done. The fact that such good design is followed by top level engineering is the reason why Kia is the fastest growing brand in Europe in 2012 when everyone else is merely trying to stay afloat.
