KIA IS SOWING THE CEE’DS OF SUCCESS Kia’s Christmas present to European drivers was the news that its first manufacturing plant on the Continent had come on stream – in December cars started to roll off the production line at Zilina in Slovakia. It’s not the first to recognise the value of car making in Eastern Europe – Volkswagen switched on to this in the 90s when it took over Skoda and Suzuki has had a plant in Hungary for years turning out models for itself, General Motors, Subaru, and now Fiat. Fiat makes its Panda and New 500 in Poland, where it will also produce the next generation Ka for Ford. Time was when cars from Eastern Europe were laughed at. Now they’re lauded. To be on message, you have to realise that they are quality merchandise more than worthy to part you from your money. Kia has decided to put its money where its mouth is with the seven year, 100,000 mile warranty for the first car to come out of Zilina, the curiously-named 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. That warranty originally only lasted seven years on the powertrain but has since been retrospectively extended 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 another four years. It’s not the best warranty you can have, though. That comes from Kia’s parent, Hyundai, which warrants all its cars for five years and an unlimited mileage. Hyundai stands by you the most out of all car makers, bar none. Hyundai and Kia sold roughly the same number of cars in the UK last year, just over 35,500 and showing a dip in sales on the year before. For Hyundai, that was merely a repeat of 2005 but for Kia it was the first dip after a period of sustained growth. Clearly, with the cee’d, it wants to get back up there. The first thing to say is that the cee’d is a good car. The tough road test team at Autocar awarded it four stars. The week before, the all-new Toyota Auris, a big name cee’d competitor built in the UK, got only three. For you, part of the decision will be based on price. The cee’d starts at £10,995, the Auris at £12,495. Many Toyota buyers will remain brand loyal as they trade in their old Corollas but Kia will try hard to persuade them, and many others, to do otherwise. When all’s said and done, the cee’d is much more than not a bad car. It’s excellent value for money, as the 1.6 litre petrol-engined LS we tested clearly demonstrated. Having parted with £13,245 to buy it (that’s list, but you’ll get it for quite a bit less if you haggle) you’ll find it leaves you wanting for nothing. It has fully automatic climate control with an air quality system, electric windows all round, front fog lamps, and half leather upholstery. More to the point for family cars buyers, it has a decent amount of passenger space and a sizeable boot. Equally importantly, this roomy petrol-engined car was averaging 38 mpg without any long trips to boost the figures. The diesels promise even more and will seriously tempt high miles drivers but Kia reckons the 1.6 petrol will be most popular. The driving dynamics may not be as sharp as those of a Ford Focus but most drivers in this bracket are looking for ability of a different sort. While fun behind the wheel is all very well, they need a competent form of family transport, and that’s what they get with the cee’d. Maurice Hardy Annette's View Kia knows its target market for the cee’d, and its mainly young families and couples who want a large car for little cash. So even the base model has an MP3-ready radio CD player. Move up from S to GS and that becomes a system with USB and auxiliary ports that will accommodate MP3 players and input sources. You can even play files from a USB memory stick and from the middle of this year the cee’d becomes fully iPod compatible. Young buyers care passionately about their music in the car. Every time our daughter borrows a test car, it comes back ready to blast sound from every speaker, so this detail really counts. It’s like bringing your whole music collection with you rather than just a clutch of favoured CDs. This might seem trivial, but if Kia captures these young buyers, who don’t hold brand prejudices, and keeps them to progress through its ever-improving range that detail will have been worthwhile. The cee’d may not have the build quality of mainstream European rivals, but it’s more than good enough to impress. But how did the car get such a daft name? Evidently, Kia borrowed the initials of the European Economic Community, or CEE and added 'ED', for European Design, knocking out the third 'e' and replacing it with an apostrophe. At least, that’s what they’re saying now. Car: Kia cee’d 1.6 LS Does it fit your ego?... 0-62 mph: 10.8 secs Top speed: 120 mph Bhp: 122 @ 6200 rpm Torque: 114 lb ft @ 4200 rpm ...and your wallet?... Price: £13,245 Urban: mpg Extra urban: mpg Combined: 44.1 mpg CO2 emissions: 152 g/km Insurance Group: 6 Best bits: it’s good; it’s cheapish; it could last longer than most.