The new Kia

The new Kia Cee’d was designed with one thing in mind: pleasing European motorists. Yet things that are designed by committee usually emerge into production as something that hints at many applications but achieves none – putting a faint smile on most faces but really pleasing none. The saying “you can’t please all the people all the time” must have come from somewhere yet seems to go ignored. So how do you go about pleasing as many people as possible, say a whole continent, for example?

Kia, the South Korean car maker, currently sitting happily as the fastest growing car company in the UK, set out with just that task in mind when it came to designing the Kia Cee’d.

Rather than going for a low-competition area, Kia decided to take on the big guns and set their sights on tackling the much coveted Golf-category. According to the marketing bumph, the new C’eed was designed by Europeans, tested on Europeans and made in a brand new purpose built factory in Europe. It’s even named for Community of Europe and European Design.

To ensure all-round satisfaction and to put their money where their mouths are, the South Korean manufacturer also decided to offer something they felt the European market really wanted – assurance. With the Cee’d it comes in the form of a seven year warranty. The longest on the continent, so that’s that base covered.

So, with all that effort put into aiming at pleasing the European market, did they manage it? The motoring pundits were certainly impressed with the C’eed; it rated higher than its direct competition in magazines across Germany and Austria including cars like Citroen’s C4 and the all-conquering Honda Civic.

In Denmark, the new Kia picked up the first ever 6 out of 6 rating from the motoring magazine ‘Motor’ while in Sweden the Cee’d had the highest second hand value among all the cars it tested through the years. Desirable even when used, then.

Awards were also scooped from magazines such as Auto Express and Auto Car and the perhaps slightly less known, Camping Fritid – a camping magazine from Denmark of course.