New KIA XCEED 2019 Review Interior Exterior.

The Kia XCeed is a new urban crossover utility vehicle (CUV) from Kia Motors which combines compact SUV practicality with the sporty packaging and engaging handling of a hatchback.

A sporty alternative to traditional SUVs, the new CUV nevertheless offers comparable levels of space for occupants and luggage. The Kia XCeed engages drivers with its sporty handling and a comfortable, assured ride, while providing a more commanding view of the road ahead than a conventional hatchback.

Emilio Herrera, Chief Operating Officer for Kia Motors Europe, comments: “The Kia XCeed addresses the growing desire for cars which offer more emotion and dynamism than an SUV, both in terms of the way a car looks and drives. Yet these customers don’t want to lose the practicality that a larger car offers them. Our new CUV meets these needs, with a distinctive and modern design wrapped around a spacious, versatile body. Merging the strengths of both hatchback and SUV, the Kia XCeed offers something refreshing and different for European consumers.”

The Kia XCeed urban crossover will be manufactured at the brand’s European production facility in Zilina, Slovakia alongside the Ceed five-door hatchback, Ceed Sportswagon, and ProCeed five-door shooting brake. Due on-sale across Europe in the third quarter of 2019, the newest member of the Ceed model family will be sold as standard with Kia’s industry-leading 7-Year, 150,000-kilometre warranty.

Stylish, expressive and modern in design, the new Kia XCeed represents a sporty alternative to traditional SUVs. A product of the brand’s European design centre in Frankfurt, Germany, the creation of the Kia XCeed has taken place under the direction of Gregory Guillaume, Vice President of Design for Kia Motors Europe.

“When we came to designing the new Ceed range as a whole, we didn’t have a brief to design a crossover,” explains Guillaume. “But as we developed designs for other models in the range, we realised a bodystyle like this could capture the emotion and sportiness of the ProCeed, but offer something new at the same time. An urban crossover seemed to embody these values well.”

The new Kia XCeed is more emotional and dynamic in format and appearance than its taller rivals, while offering something different to the other models in the Ceed range. The only body panels carried over from its five-door hatchback sibling are the front doors.

In profile, the car’s relatively long bonnet flows into the A-pillars anchored aft of the front wheels, lending the car a sporty, swept-back silhouette. While the wheelbase remains the same as other models in the Ceed line-up (2,650 mm), the Kia XCeed’s front and rear overhangs are extended over the five-door hatchback model by 25 mm at the front (to 905 mm) and 60 mm at the rear (to 840 mm).

A steeply-angled fastback tailgate, and a rear ‘deck’ trailing edge which sits 60 mm higher than that of the Ceed five-door hatchback, enhances the CUV’s dynamic, coupé-like, cab-rearward appearance. The Kia XCeed sits on a choice of 16- or 18-inch machined aluminium alloy wheels, shod with high-grip 205/60 R16 or 235/45 R18 tyres.

The front and rear of the car also represent a departure from the ‘face’ of the conventional Ceed model family, differentiating the Kia XCeed from its stablemates. With an 1,826 mm body (26 mm wider than the Ceed five-door), the CUV presents a more assertive face, with a more prominent grille and larger lower air intake. The headlamps are newly-designed, with the Ceed’s ‘ice cube’ LED light signature sitting within a more angular shape, topped by a slim turn signal that flows back over the wheel arches.

The car’s elevated ride height and body also present the same robust image that attracts buyers to the other SUVs in Kia’s product portfolio. The Kia XCeed’s ground clearance is 172 mm on 16-inch wheels and 184 mm on 18-inch wheels, a rise of up to 44 mm over the Ceed five-door hatchback. Wheel arch and side sill cladding and silver roof rails lend the car a tougher, SUV-like presence, with the metallic valance in the rear bumper enhancing this effect.

Inside, the Kia XCeed carries over the contemporary cabin architecture of its Ceed stablemates, with a sculptured centre console oriented slightly towards the driver. With a lower hip point than a taller SUV, and raised ground clearance over a conventional hatchback, the Kia XCeed provides drivers with a sportier driving position allowing a better view of the road ahead (see ‘Packaging’ for more details).

Unique to the Kia XCeed is a new yellow colour pack for the interior, with black upholstery contrasted with vibrant yellow stitching for seats and doors, yellow seat piping, and a blend of gloss black and metallic yellow highlights throughout the cabin.

The Kia XCeed’s suite of advanced safety, connectivity and infotainment technologies make it one of the most high-tech, comprehensively-equipped cars in its class.


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