KIA CEE'D (2012-2015) KOREA CAN DO MORE TOO By Jonathan Crouch Models Covered 5dr hatchback, 3dr coupe, 5dr SW estate (1.6 diesel, 1.4, 1.6 petrol [cee'd 1, cee'd 2, cee'd 3, cee'd 4]) Introduction In its original second generation form, Kia's cee'd no longer only looked to undercut Focus-class family hatchbacks: it wanted to tackle them on equal terms at equal prices. That meant it had to be very good indeed. Still, sharper looks, great quality and higher technology promised much. How does this model stack up as a used buy? The History The rise and rise of the Korean motor industry has been one of the enduring industrial stories of the last decade, right up there with Google, Apple and Facebook and every bit as impressive. From an embarrassing budget brand base, marques like Kia have in recent years been embarrassing mainstream makers with style and high technology at sensible prices. It was an evolution that took less than ten years and one that all began with one car - the cee'd family hatchback, launched in 2007, but better established in the much smarter and more sophisticated second generation guise we're going to look at here. Creating the second generation version though, was much harder. After all, converting customers into a new brand is always possible if the product is right and its prices low. But selling this cee'd for the same kind of money people would pay for a Focus or a Golf? At this MK2 model's original launch in 2012, we wondered if that might be a step too far, even for a brand as ambitious as this one. To pull it off, this second generation model needed to be nothing less than a showcase for everything the Korean company knew about design, quality, engineering and technology. Fortunately, it was. Kia offered buyers a choice of five-door hatch, SW estate and three-door 'pro_cee'd bodystyles. The original MK2 model we look at here sold until the Autumn of 2015, when it was replaced by a significantly revised facelifted version. What To Look For The cee'd has proven an extremely reliable car, with both petrol engines and the diesel motor scoring well in reliability surveys. Customers have noted that some of the interior finishes can get scratched quite easily and the alloy wheels fitted to top models are quite easy to kerb. Other than that, it's a clean bill of health. Kia's brilliant seven-year warranty arrangement means that these vehicles very rarely fall into premature neglect. On The Road You can't fault the way that Kia has gone about this. Clearly, someone in Seoul has looked at just what makes the best family hatchbacks great and gone to much trouble to try and emulate them. In the original MK1 version of this car, that meant the same clever multi-link rear suspension system pioneered by Ford's Focus and copied by Volkswagen's Golf, something that's still not the norm in this segment. With this second generation model, Kia went further. Think our steering system lacks feel? No problem: here's a Flex Steer system so you can choose your level of feedback. Believe our petrol engines to be ordinary? Here's a state-of-the-art direct injection unit. Find our automatic gearbox antiquated? Check out this hi-tech double-clutch version. But you don't achieve perfection merely by ticking boxes. The cee'd still won't be first choice if yours is habitually a dynamic driving style. And the main reason why is tinged with irony: a lack of feel through the steering. Isn't that dealt with by the Flex Steer system? Well it can't be on entry-level cee'd models because they don't get it. Those variants that do have this set-up offer their drivers a button on the wheel that enables selection between 'Comfort', 'Normal' and 'Sport' modes. Given that 'Comfort' is rather light and 'Sport' artificially heavy, you end up leaving it in 'Normal' all the time, which rather defeats the point. Overall, a seat at the wheel of this car is a very pleasant place to spend your time. The driving position is excellent, the seats and the wheel feel good and all-round visibility is better than many rivals: in fact, thanks to those quarter windows in the front pillars, it's better than its cousin the Hyundai i30. Though there's perhaps a touch more road and wind noise than you'd get in, say, a Golf, the muted engine note ensures that refinement levels are quite good enough to encourage lengthy journeys, though on them, you might find the ride a touch firmer than many will expect. Overall There will still be some buyers of used family hatchback of course, who'll blindly buy a Focus, a Golf or some other contender in this class from a conventional mainstream brand without considering its Korean alternative. But these will largely be uninformed folk yet to fully cotton on to the way that products in this segment have changed. Thanks to the success of this cee'd, there are fewer and fewer customers of this kind around. Of course, shortlist selection isn't the same as a sale. There are family hatch folk who'll want more powerful engines or more dynamic handling than this car can offer. But, we'd suggest, many more will enjoy this Kia's sharp looks, impressive quality, class-leading practicality and low running costs. True, the asking prices may be a little higher than you might expect from a South Korean brand, but don't judge them until you've tried the product, a confident design from a very confident brand. We think you might like it.