The cee’d family’s accolades just keep on growing. This time the cee’d SW takes the spotlight, scooping the 2008 What Diesel Car? Estate car of the year award.

A panel of 10 judges whittled down the 114 contenders to just 10 category winners. The cee’d SW beat off tough competition from 18 other models in the category, including the Ford Mondeo and Skoda Octavia estates, to conquer one of the most hotly contended sectors.

It is the cee’d SW’s practicality, styling and value for money that meant it took the top spot, with up to 1664 litres of luggage space, a starting price of just Ł13,195 and an industry leading seven year warranty.

Ian Robertson, Editor of What Diesel Magazine, commented “The cee’d SW is great value for money, backed up with an unbeatable warranty, and is stylish and practical. What more could you want from an estate car?”

Paul Philpott, Managing Director of Kia Motors UK Ltd, stated: “I am thrilled that cee’d SW has won this impressive award. Having been in the market place for less than a year I am certain that the estate can only continue to positively affirm people’s attitudes towards Kia. [Source: kia UK]

Find out more about cee’d SW (click here)

The upbeat investment mood regarding Kia Motors Corp. is accelerating as the weak Korean won and sales recovery are quickly improving the company’s bottom line. Analysts say that the nation’s second-largest automaker will be in the black this year after suffering losses for two consecutive years.

“The worst appears to be behind Kia, as the won’s weakness are creating unexpected gains,” said Han Kum-hee, an analyst with Samsung Securities Co. She estimated that the company will post nearly 400 billion won ($420 million) in operating income this year, up from a loss of 55 billion won in 2007.

The stronger-than-expected U.S. dollar is the biggest contributor to the recovery, she said. Kia Motors, which exports about 70 percent of its total output, has been suffering harsh setbacks in recent years because the fast appreciation of the Korean won has undermined the company’s overseas price competitiveness. (more…)

Say a big hello to Dan, another passionate Kia owner! He’s coming from Canada and he’s the owner of this fast and furious 2004 Kia Rio sedan.

1. How long have you owned your Rio?
- Since August 2004

2. What cars did you own before?
- 1990 Chrysler Lebaron Turbo )heavily modified) 1990 Suzuki Sidekick (lightly modified)

3. Honestly, what was your intention when you bought your Rio?
- I wanted a daily driver so I was not driving the Lebaron all the time.

4. In a few words, describe the style of your Rio?
- Well with the Rio I decided I wanted the look to be very tasteful. Alot of it is personal taste, if I see something I like I try to work with the idea, If it looks good it stays, if not then I try something else.

Click image to enlarge! (more…)

Kia Motors Corporation announced today that its global sales (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) of passenger cars, recreation vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles in March 2008 recorded 124,767 units, representing a 11.5% year-on-year increase.

Cumulatively through the first quarter of 2008, Kia’s global sales increased by 12.3% year-on-year and reached 330,887 units. General markets have experienced the largest gain, selling 52,399 units to date, representing a 31.9% increase, while the China and Europe markets have showed cumulative year-on-year sales growth of 24.7% (39,498 units sold) and 17.2% (89,205 units sold), respectively. The Korea market has also shown a cumulative year-on-year sales increase of 10.4% (74,411 units sold).

So far in 2008, Kia’s best selling model in export markets has been the C-segment Cerato (Spectra) with 49,274 units sold. It is followed by a tight group of three vehicles:

Sportage compact SUV with 35,294 units;

C-segment cee’d with 35,214 units;

B-segment Rio with 33,610 units.

The A-segment Picanto comes in fifth with 27,947 units sold. Noteworthy is that the cee’d, sold only in Europe, and designed and produced for Europe by Europeans, charts as the second most sold car in Kia’s overseas product portfolio this month for the first time. (more…)

Kia cars are proving to be hot property at auction with buyers paying well above the guide prices for a wide variety of models. So much so that CAP, one of the leading industry guides for used car prices, has taken the rare step of adjusting their Kia guide prices upwards.

This year Kia and BCA have been holding a series of auctions at the Measham site and large audiences have been there to snap up used Kias such as Picanto, cee’d, Carens and Sportage. Almost without exception the demand has been so strong that prices have not just outperformed basic guide prices but smashed the premium values quoted by organisations such as CAP and Glass’s.

The Kia cee’d made its auction debut in February and whilst the average sale price for all Kias was 101 per cent of CAP cee’d bust the scale at 112 per cent. This was no one off. The success continued in March – every Kia in the auction was sold with the in-demand Picanto reaching 108 per cent whilst cee’d scored a huge 120 per cent of CAP, busting their predicted residual values. (more…)

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group has completed a system for producing 1 million vehicles per year in China. With its chairman Chung Mong-koo attending on Tuesday, the conglomerate dedicated a second Hyundai plant with an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles in Beijing’s Shunyi District.

The US$790 million factory took 24 months to build. The state-of-the-art facility is equipped with a mixed-model production system that can produce four models on one assembly line at the same time.

With the completion of the plant, Hyundai-Kia now has a total annual capacity of 1.03 million vehicles in China. The conglomerate has three other plants in the country — another Hyundai plant (annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles) and two Kia plants (combined annual capacity of 430,000 vehicles).

The increased production capacity puts the Korean group in line with foreign rivals operating in China, including Volkswagen (1.11 million vehicles) and General Motors (1.1 million).

Hyundai-Kia has set a goal to sell more than 1 million units in China per year by 2010, while turning its base there into a total sales and marketing network.

A Hyundai Motor senior executive said, “China is a market we must overcome before we emerge as a super-global enterprise. Hyundai-Kia’s second challenge has just started.” [Source: Chosun]

Only a few days after Toyota announced it would bring Prius hybrid to Korean market, Hyundai-Kia’s Chairman, Mr. Chung Mong-koo, revealed some facts about the company’s current hybrid car development and future plans. The announcement was made during his visit of Kia Motor’s factory in Gwangju, a Hyundai spokesman said.

Although the auto giant’s plans to launch hybrid electric cars in 2009 had been known of for some time, until recently the group has been focused more on luxury segments and fending off foreign carmakers than on pursuing eco-friendly technologies.

To secure new growth engine for the future, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group plans to spur on its hybrid electric and hydrogen fuel cell projects. Chung said that the need to develop eco-friendly auto technologies is becoming greater and that hybrid electric and hydrogen fuel cell technologies will form the basis of the automotive industry’s growth! (more…)

Kia has expanded the engine line up on cee’d and cee’d SW models with the addition of the powerful 2.0 CRDi unit recently introduced on the pro_cee’d Sport.

This range topping engine is introduced with a new Sport grade featuring 17-inch alloys, black bezel headlights and rear privacy glass. The Sport models’ interior has part leather seats featuring a specially designed tyre tread cloth design with silver stitching highlights on seats, arm rest and steering wheel. In all, the combination of the powerful 138bhp 2.0-litre CRDi with an unbeatable Sport specification enhances cee’ds ability to compete against its rivals.

The 2.0-litre CRDi engine has been subject to complex testing to make it the perfect match for Kia’s eye-catching cee’d range. Technical improvements translate to improved durability and power while state-of-the-art engineering allows customers to enjoy more power and torque without compromising on fuel efficiency or refinement. Performance is further enhanced by advanced fuel injection and Variable Geometry Turbocharger (VGT) technology transferred from the 1.6-litre CRDi engine already available in the cee’d range.

Sara Drummond-Bell, Product Manager for the cee’d range comments: “The inclusion of the 2.0 CRDi Sport gives the cee’d range unrivalled appeal to a larger audience. Offering three body styles and a choice of five engines, outstanding specifications and an industry leading seven-year warranty, each cee’d model brings an outstanding offering to the C-segment.”

The walk-up in price from a 1.6 CRDi to the new Euro IV compliant 2.0 CRDi is just Ł1,200 on both cee’d five-door and cee’d SW models making the five-door cee’d 2.0 CRDi Sport available for Ł15,995 and the same engine in the cee’d SW for Ł16,395. [More informations at Kia UK, Kia Models or our Pro_cee'd forum]

Click image to enlarge!

Hi, I’m Carol Dumas. I’m from Manistee, Michigan, USA. I am 41 yrs old. I work as a revenue auditor for the local casino. I love to do gardening and spend time with my children. I love to drive my car.

1. How long have you owned your Optima?
7 months.

2. What cars did you own before?
A mix of 26 Chryslers, Dodges, and Oldsmobiles. Except for a Buick Riviera, and a Mercury Grand Marquis. Also a Kia Spectra.

3. Honestly, what was your intention when you bought your Optima?
I fell in love with it. I actually had no intention to buy a new car.

4. In a few words, describe the style of your Optima?
Unique, beautiful, simple, upscale, and luxurious.

5. What do you like the most about Optima?
Do I have to choose? The…Seat warmers!

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Autoblog has put together an interesting video of most significant vehicles from New York International Auto Show. Many exciting concepts and production cars were served to us, but seems like this year auto show was dominated by Koreans. Two vehicles, Kia Koup concept and Hyundai Genesis Coupe made it to the Autoblog’s editors top 5 list.

Click play on the video below and check how they placed their top 5 picks.

Find out more about Kia Koup concept: Gallery and detailes

I’m very pleased to introduce you Muhamad from Singapore. He is the proud owner of this gorgeously modified Kia Cerato (Spectra5). This year, Singapore will stage a Formula One Grand Prix race, and judging by it’s look, his Kia Cerato could easily be used as a pace car on that race.

1. How long have you owned Cerato?
I’ve owned my Spectra, or known as Cerato hatchback here in Singapore, for about coming to 3yrs. In Sg, we have this 10year lease kind of thing for cars, whereby once it’s expired, we need to either ‘scrap’ the vehicle or renew the certificate of entitlement. Not cheap..

2. What cars did you own before?
This is my first car. But not my first vehicle. I’m also currently own a 9yr old Honda XR400R dirt bike.

3. Honestly, what was your intention when you bought your Cerato?
To be plain honest, i bought it because it was cheap. Furthermore, KIA has a promo going on around the period when i was looking for a car after i got my first baby. I shortlisted a few budget options and decided to go for the Cerato Hatch as it seems to be most value for money. Outlook is quite good, interior is spacious and it comes with all 4 disc brakes, which is cool since i don’t quite like rear drum brakes.

4. In a few words, describe the style of your Cerato?
Hmmm…to be honest when i first got it, I wouldn’t have imagined it to look like what it looks like today. Started modding it and just couldn’t stop. Basically, it’s style or concept is in the line of GT and WRC rally cars but in terms of performance, it’s far, far from it. Some of my friends call it Cerato GT.

Click image to enlarge!

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Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced March sales of 24,871 units and year-to-date sales of 68,214 units.

Spectra and Rio had their best selling months of the year with 8,022 and 3,514 units sold respectively. Both vehicles also experienced increases year-to-date in the first quarter, and over the same period last year.

Sales of Kia’s Optima dropped 44.3 percent to 2,404 vehicles, while sales of the Sportage fell 26.3 percent to 3,171 and Sorento sales slid 45.9 percent to 2,039.Total sales for the month of March also rose 13 percent over the previous month.

So far this year, Kia sales are down 7.3 percent to 68,214 from 73,603 at the same time last year.

Kia Motors America (KMA) is the sales, marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles through more than 640 dealers throughout the United States. For 2007, KMA recorded its 14th consecutive year of record U.S. sales. Kia Motors subscribes to a philosophy of building high value, high quality, safe and dynamic vehicles. Kia Motors prides itself on producing vehicles that are exciting and enabling and evoke the Kia tagline “The Power to Surprise.”

Kia Motors America is the “Official Automotive Partner of the NBA.” Information about Kia Motors America and its full vehicle line-up is available at its Web site — http://www.kia.com.

Kia Motors has announced a unique development of its Peter Schreyer-designed sports coupe concept – the KEE_wii. First seen at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2007, the KEE was a clear indication of the design direction of Kia product. However, the latest upgrade to KEE will make sure it is one step ahead of the competition with a new, dynamic and more involving drive system that removes the need for a steering wheel and pedals.

Franz Josef-Hicks, head of the Advanced Propulsion Research Institute and Laboratory at Kia Motors New Zealand, explained; ‘We have taken inspiration from current computer gaming technology to create a completely new steering and pedal system called Dynamic On-Road Kinetics.

The traditional driving controls are replaced by a small ‘controller’ which fits comfortably into two hands. Making steering motions with the small controller will turn the car in whichever direction the driver likes whilst accelerator and brakes are button operated. It is a very simple and intuitive system.’ added Mr Josef-Hicks. (more…)