Kia completes its Ceed quartet. After the five-door, station wagon, station wagon coupe (shooting break), the XCeed is now coming. He relies on the new genre of "crossover". A mixture between a normal hatchback with sporty coupé ambitions and a classic, higher built SUV.
Nothing there with a flawless SUV in the Ceed family. With its new XCeed, Kia is following the current trend of beveling the rear of the SUV, which is always quite bulky, and thus sending it onto the road with a coupé appearance. Pioneers of such crossovers are, for example, the VW T-Roc, the Mazda CX-30 or the Ford Focus Active. No need to worry for the SUV disciples among the Kia customers: the Koreans also gave the newcomer the coveted higher ground clearance with a raised seating position, but as a kind of mediocrity between sedan and city Indians.
A thoroughly successful operation by the designers, the result of which has now been stripped of all covers in the Frankfurt Kia company headquarters. Of course, the one with the "X" is a direct relative of the well-known Ceed, which has been making a name for itself in the Golf class for a little over a year. The new one is 4,2 centimeters higher than the sedan and has all sorts of attributes that many SUV owners believe such a car should have. In the case of the XCeed, these are, for example, dark plastic paneling around the wheel arches, an equally decorated door sill and, as the icing on the cake, an element similar to an underride protection at the rear. All that extra wrap makes the XCeed a few inches longer. A touch of visual off-road vehicle feeling, even if this Kia should never move off the beaten track, not least because of the lack of all-wheel drive.
The second part of the design breeding then starts in the area of the third roof pillar. From here it's downhill with the roof line. The rear window is not steep like in an SUV, but quite sloping. In this way, the well-behaved Ceed becomes a kind of coupé limousine with a cuddly rear end and a statement of the sublime thanks to the raised chassis, which allows it to hover over the asphalt with a ground clearance of 18,4 centimetres.
In order to recognize the "X" from a distance, the designers changed the otherwise typical Ceed facial expression with a larger lower air intake. It harmonises with the slightly narrower grille, which has also been modified and which interprets the "tiger nose" of the other models more subtly. The headlights are also new. "Only the two front doors were taken over unchanged from the basic model," emphasizes Europe boss Emilio Herrera, meaning the visible components of the X-Ceed. Because under the sheet metal, the new one has of course brought along a lot of family heritage.
This also applies to the interior design, in which experienced Ceed drivers immediately feel at home. One detail, however, is new: the XCeed is the first Kia model ever to boast a fully digital instrument cluster. It features a 12,3-inch, high-resolution monitor with razor-sharp graphics. The driver can bring important details into view according to his own taste. Depending on the selected equipment, the new "Mouse Cinema" is even standard on board.
The first time you try the seat, the passenger compartment confirms its suitability for everyday use, which is so important in this class. Legroom and kneeroom for the backbenchers deserve praise, as does the capacity of the room. When it comes to the feel-good factor, the higher height compared to the sedan comes into play again. The newcomers to all seats are happy about the 4,2 centimeters, which they don't have to let fall deeply into the seat. Of course, "real" SUVs offer even clearer "high seats", but the XCeed is right in the middle of what is possible.
The range of engines then largely corresponds to that of the sister models. Future customers can choose from three petrol and two diesel engines. The most tempting is certainly the stronger variant with the 1,6-liter turbo petrol engine, which forms the tip of the Ceed iceberg with 150 kW/204 hp. Reasonable customers will probably jump at the model offered in the 140 hp range. Then there is still money left over to help yourself from the wide range of electronic helpers. Here Kia offers almost all assistants that are currently available. Networking with the digital outside world has also been expanded for the XCeed, which is one of the first models to be able to use Kia's own online service "UVO Connect". It can also be linked to the smartphone.
Next year, the Ceed should also arrive in the electric age. Then a so-called "mild hybrid" appears, whose electric motor supports the petrol engine, but can only drive it purely electrically for a few hundred meters. If you want to drive a good 50 kilometers, you can then switch to the plug-in hybrid, which is also planned for early 2020.
