The all-new second generation Kia cee’d goes on sale in the UK on 1 June bringing enhanced quality and efficiency to the family car market. Designed, engineered and built in Europe
Priced from £14395 OTR, the new cee’d is available with a direct-injection petrol engine for the first time and is the first Kia in the world to offer a dual-clutch automated manual transmission.

The original cee’d made its debut at the Paris Motor Show in 2006 – at the same time as Kia introduced Peter Schreyer as its new chief design officer. Their simultaneous arrival meant that Schreyer was able to influence only the smallest details of the car’s design, but the new model has been created entirely under his watchful gaze by a team led by European design chief Gregory Guillaume.

The second-generation cee’d raises the benchmark for fuel-efficiency in its class, with average fuel consumption reductions of 4 per cent and CO2 emissions as low as 97g/km for the 1.6-litre diesel model. Four engines are available at launch – 1.4- and 1.6-litre diesels from Kia’s U2 family and petrol engines of similar capacity from the Gamma range.

The 1.6-litre petrol engine features efficiency-enhancing direct fuel injection. Familiar from the Kia Sportage, it is the most powerful of the four cee’d engines, with 133bhp and 164Nm of torque, and is the only cee’d available with the new dual-clutch gearbox developed in-house by Kia.

All 1.6-litre manual versions of the cee’d are equipped with ISG (Intelligent Stop & Go), Kia’s engine stop/start system which is a major contributor to the efficiency improvements of the new range.

The 1.6-litre diesel with ISG has a combined cycle potential fuel economy of more than 76mpg, with CO2 emissions from 97g/km, depending on the wheel and tyre combination. The 1.6-litre diesel develops 126bhp and 260Nm of torque – figures which promise outstanding driveability in the conditions faced by Europeans on a daily basis. It is available with a conventional six-speed automatic gearbox in place of the standard six-speed manual. The CO2 emissions of the 1.6 CRDi automatic are 145g/km.

The 1.4-litre units deliver a strong balance of flexible performance and low fuel consumption, even without the aid of ISG. The petrol version develops 98bhp and 137Nm of torque and is capable of more than 47mpg, with CO2 emissions from 139g/km. The diesel, with 89bhp and 220Nm, manages almost 69mpg, with CO2 emissions down to 109g/km.