Road Test
Kia Pro_cee'd
Test date 27 February 2008
Price as tested £14,395
For Elegant design, big boot, strong and economical engine, class-leading warranty
AgainstAwkward rear seat access, firm ride, inconsistent steering weight
We’ll be brief about all but the most recent history of Kia’s small family cars, because vehicles like the Shuma and Mentor — and the Cerato that replaced them — can’t hold a candle to the Cee’d.
It was when it launched the Cerato that Kia, a subsidiary of Hyundai, first started making noises about wanting the pair to be a top-five global car maker by 2010.
A hopeful claim given the model range it had back then, less so now that it’s introducing cars as good as the Cee’d, of which this is its third body derivative (following the 5dr hatch and SW), and Hyundai’s i30, with which it shares a platform.
But the arrival of this Pro_cee’d signifies another marked departure for Kia; it’s the first model in the firm’s history to put functionality to one side and lead with allure.
For unlike the majority of C-segment hatch manufacturers, Kia has styled the three-door Cee’d to look significantly different from its five-door relative in an attempt to add a little excitement to the brand. Only Vauxhall’s Astra and Citroën’s C4 carry such striking differences between their three and five-door forms.
But Kia hasn’t thrown all thoughts of practicality in the bin in the pursuit of desirability, for below its sleeker clothes the Pro_cee’d is built on the same capable platform as the five-door model.
In addition it’s just as competitively priced as its sister, and comes with Kia’s market-leading seven-year warranty. But does the Pro_cee’d have enough sparkle to cut it as an emotive purchase and style statement and establish itself as a bargain Audi A3?
Or will it just turn out to be nothing more than a car that erodes the Cee’d’s capabilities through the addition of a less practical body style?
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