First look: Kia’s Euro wagon has a hint of France

FIRST it was the Cee’d hatch, now Kia is preparing to unveil its Cee’d "sporty wagon" to the world.

A stylish Korean interpretation on Peugeot’s 407 wagon, the Cee’d wagon has an extended tailgate for maximum accessibility to the luggage area.

"The new Kia Cee’d sporty wagon retains all the attributes of the Cee’d hatchback and offers consumers extra practicality and versatility, with a unique extended tailgate design, while keeping stylish stand-alone good looks with a truly sporty feel," according to senior vice president Kia Motors Europe, Mr Jean-Charles Lievens.

The car has been designed to deliver the same levels of ride, handling and performance as the hatch and will be available with the same engines.

Kia hopes the hatch and the wagon will lure European buyers to the brand who would not have otherwise considered the brand previously.

A 4.5m-long the wagon has an unusually long wheelbase and will offer class-leading passenger and luggage space, plus highly competitive levels of equipment and state-of-the-art active and passive safety.

Customers in Europe will be able to choose from a line-up of 18 models with three equipment levels LX, EX and TX, five engines, with manual or automatic transmissions.

To boost load carrying ability and versatility, the wagon’s overall length is increased by 235mm over the hatch, with all of that increase behind the rear wheels. Overall height is up by 10mm.

Luggage capacity goes up to a total of 534 litres – loaded up to the bottom of the rear windows – almost 200 litres more than the hatch.

Like the Chrysler 300C wagon, the Cee’d wagon’s tailgate is designed to give excellent access to the load area.

The top hinges have been moved forward by 225mm compared to the hatch, so the tailgate has reduced outswing and upswing, allowing users to stand closer to the car and the tailgate to be fully opened, even in restricted parking spaces.

Kia will be offering most customers the same choice of five EuroIV-compliant engines and transmissions as the hatch.

Power outputs for the petrol engines range from 67kW to 106kW, including an all-new 85kW 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine designed, engineered and manufactured by Kia in Slovakia.

Apart from the five-door and wagon a three-door hatch is also offered in Europe.

However, don’t rush your Australian Kia dealers just yet. The Cee’d hatch is not due to arrive here for another two years.

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