Friday 28th September 2012

Paris 2012: the hot Kia Pro_Cee'd

New Golf GTI too derivative? Kia's got an alternative on the way...

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Kia will enter the hot hatch market in mid-2013 with a 200hp-plus version of the new Pro_Cee'd revealed at the Paris motor show.

Looks go some way to offset badge snobbery

The hot Pro_Cee'd will go head-to-head with the 2.0 TSI version of the VW Scirocco, says Kia’s UK president Paul Philpott. He downplayed suggestions the car would be a rival for the more powerful hot-hatch elite such as the 250hp Ford Focus ST or 265hp Renaultsport Megane.

Philpott was tight-lipped about the size of the engine, but the three-door coupe-esque Pro-ceed should be capable of a 0-62mph time below seven seconds and a 140mph-plus top speed.

Kia has stayed out of the performance market until now, concentrating instead on building up the brand’s standing and sales in the UK and Europe. According to Philpott, the brand is now at the point where it is ready to enter the hot-hatch market. The Pro_Cee'd will be unveiled at the Geneva motor show in early March, with the car arriving in the UK a few months afterward.

Kia could hardly be accused of rushing this one

Kia sources also said that a powerful version of the Rio supermini could also be on the horizon. However, Philpott would only confirm that Kia was “studying the potential” for such a car.

[Krikkit]

Definitely like look of this - I keep seeing their current-gen models with that styling and think "Hmm... Nice!"

Who ever thought the day would come when a Kia could perhaps be an acceptable PH purchase? (Not just for a snotter, I might add...)

[Jimbo.]

Hot hatch or no hot hatch, having seen how nice the new Ce'ed is, VW, Ford, PSA etc should be afraid. Very afraid.

[LukeSi]

Looks great. Hopefully it will be a Focus ST / Megane RS rival. A hot Rio could be a Clio RS replacement after the disappointment of the new one. Kia are really getting good fast.

[F1GTRUeno]

How fking big are those front lights?

Or indeed anything on the front.

Why do manufacturers design cars like this nowadays?

[BBS-LM]

That is not a bad looking car at all, like it. Would be interesting to see what price point Kia put the car in.

[vrsmxtb]

The back's a bit lardy, but no more so than the latest Megane / Focus etc.

I reckon Kia are on to a real winner here, if it's priced right. The Koreans are definitely edging ever closer to breaking the UK market.

Don't Kia have a 7 year warranty package too - that could be a real dealmaker on a car in this market.

Edited by vrsmxtb on Friday 28th September 10:33

[jbforce10]

I'm wondering which will be the first manufacturer to design a car that has headlamp clusters so incredibly long that they travel the entire length of the bonnet and meet the windscreen.
The new Fiesta and this Kia almost made it... but not quite.

[FestivAli]

If the chassis is good this is far more appealing to me than the new Clio. Actually it's far nicer than the Veloster Turbo as well when I think about it.

Kia has been on a roll since the (horribly named I will concede) Koup. If they put a turbo engine in that I would be all smiles.

[ikarl]

I really like that..... if they get the engine right, I could be persuaded

[markoc]

Kia really have got their act together. Looks like a great little car, better in a dark colour than light IMO - if they get the pricing right they will sell as many as they make.

[Guvernator]

That actually looks pretty decent. If they price it right at around £16k then it will sell like hotcakes.

[Dave Hedgehog]

looks nice, give it a decent price and it should do well

[kambites]

Guvernator said:

That actually looks pretty decent. If they price it right at around £16k then it will sell like hotcakes.

I suspect it'll be a little more than that, since the current top-spec 1.6 diesel already costs 16k. I'd imagine something like 18k?

[Fartgalen]

Had a Kia (again) on rental the other weekend. Lovely drive and a nice little run-around. I'd certainly consider a used one as an A-B car.

[lewisf182]

saw a new shape of one of these the other day, it looked absolutely gorgeous if im honest. A few more years and I think Kia could lose its image and be on par with skoda? this car definately looks the part.

[Dave Hedgehog]

kambites said:

Guvernator said:

That actually looks pretty decent. If they price it right at around £16k then it will sell like hotcakes.

I suspect it'll be a little more than that, since the current top-spec 1.6 diesel already costs 16k. I'd imagine something like 18k?

since the current golf gti with a few options can set you back 35k even if they charge 20k it will be a bargain

[Tartan Pixie]

I wonder how long the marketing bods have been waiting to put the word Pro in there, or whether there was a fight over the possibility of using the prefix Ex instead?

[kambites]

Dave Hedgehog said:

since the current golf gti with a few options can set you back 35k even if they charge 20k it will be a bargain

True. I don't think there are a huge number of individual options with the Kia, partly because they come reasonably well equipped as standard in the top spec models and partly because some of the more poncey features just aren't available.

The seven year warranty is worth a fair bit, too.

[PumpkinSteve]

That looks really good!

[Oddball RS]

Definitely like look of this - I keep seeing their current-gen models with that styling and think "Hmm... Nice!"



Too true it makes me smirk everytime i see them because i think 'yeah you just about nailed that' then you see a pig ugly Mondeo arse end or a Euro Focus!