KIA’s SECOND CEE’D KEEPS THE IMAGE GROWING Anyone who thought that Kia’s first European car, the cee’d hatchback, was a flash in the pan and that the company wouldn’t be able to keep up the flow of quality product is likely to feel thoroughly disillusioned. For the rest of us, who realised some time ago that Kia was on the ascendancy, driven by parent company Hyundai’s ambition to be a top player in the global car business, the fact that the quality of the cee’d hatch continues through to the cee’d SW estate comes as no surprise. We spent three weeks living with this new cee’d estate over the Christmas and New Year period so there was plenty of time to find out its weak spots, to get beneath the surface and assess the real quality of this car. And the plain fact is that it’s hard to fault at all. Everyone who tried the car was impressed by it, even my daughter and her partner who have a Volkswagen Golf as everyday transport. Kia has decided to put its money where its mouth is with the seven year, 100,000 mile warranty for all versions of the cee’d. It’s a brave attempt to capture the hearts and minds of European car buyers. Kia wants you to know that it has every faith in its product. Initially, Kia was only going to offer the warranty on the powertrain but then extended it to cover the whole car. When other cars are old and past it as far as their warranties are concerned, most at just three years, the Kia cee’d will still be covered for up to another four years. Hyundai and Kia sold roughly the same number of cars in the UK last year, just over 29,000 each, a huge drop on the year before. For Hyundai, that was part of a three year pattern but for Kia it was the second dip after a period of sustained growth. Clearly, with the cee’d, it needs to get back up there but it hasn’t done the trick yet. It’s hoping the cee’d estate will lift its fortunes in the fleet market, the sector that accounts for 80 per cent of the 42,000 or so estates of this size sold in Britain each year. It will have to be careful that in chasing this market it doesn’t devalue the cars in private buyers’ eyes through heavy discounting. Once a maker gets a reputation for heavy fleet discounts it can have a knock-on effect across the rest of the range. Kia has done a very good job with the cee’d SW considering it is the first estate car the company has ever produced. When it made its first large MPV, the Sedona, it dropped a clanger by building a car where the rear seats could be folded but not removed, hardly what family users were looking for. The big mistake with the Sedona was soon corrected but this is a company that doesn’t need telling twice, so the cee’d SW is exactly what most users of a car like this will really want. And even better news than the packaging being right is the fact that the prices are just right, too. If you really need a car like this you can get yourself behind the wheel of the SW without too much financial juggling. The range starts at £12,995 for the 1.6 petrol GS. I’ve driven behind that engine in a cee’d hatch and it was good enough but most fleet buyers will be demanding diesel, so that’s what I tried in the SW. At present, Kia only offers a 1.6 diesel but says it will bow to pressure and launch a 2.0 model if there’s demand. The engine is already available in Hyundai’s equivalent range. The diesel has two power outputs, 89 bhp in the GS and 113 bhp in the LS we tried, a well equipped car with a price tag of £14,995. Prices are only £700 stronger than equivalent five door hatches, good news for buyers as most rivals charge a hefty chunk more than that. Economy is pretty good at 47 mpg but Skoda Octavia estates I’ve tried will manage more and are in the same budget / value market sector. Kia has stretched the SW by 235 mm compared with the hatch and that extra length all goes into the load area which comes out at 1,664 litres with the rear seats folded. That’s a significant amount more than the VW Golf estate I’ve since been driving, but that will cost you more. Overall, the cee’d SW is impressive and never gives a clue that Kia has not done a car like this before. Maurice Hardy Active families who have avoided catching the MPV bug that’s sweeping the nation even faster than the Norovirus did this winter will appreciate that in the Kia cee’d SW they have a car that will really suit their lifestyle. Under the boot floor, for instance, is 200 litres of storage featuring trays that are moulded to be large enough to house items like muddy walking shoes that would otherwise be left loose in the back of the car, causing mayhem and leaving mess as they rolled around. Features like the wide opening doors will also be appreciated. The front doors open through three stages to make access really easy but the really clever bit comes with the tailgate hinges, which are designed to make the tailgate swing up and not out to make it much easier to reach the boot in restricted places. Kia has also put great effort into the design of the controls, producing a layout for the fascia that’s clear and easy to navigate. The SW is also the first car from Kia not to have its indicator stalk on the right of the steering column, a position Kia maintained made it easier to work the indicators and change gear at the same time. Presumably you steered with your feet. The old arrangement was actually a source of great confusion for people who had more than one car where only one was a Kia. The change will gradually be introduced across the range as models are refreshed, which is good news. Annette Hardy Car: Kia cee’d SW 1.6 CRDi LS Does it fit your ego?... 0-62 mph: 11.7 secs Top speed: 117 mph Bhp: 113 @ 4000 rpm Torque: 188 lb ft @ 1900 - 2750 rpm ...and your wallet?... Price: £14,995 Urban: 47.9 mpg Extra urban: 65.7 mpg Combined: 57.6 mpg CO2 emissions: 128 g/km Insurance Group: 6 Best bits: it’s good; it’s practical; it could last longer than most. End