Kia Motors UK announced today that it has secured a deal to supply 120 Kia cee’d SW EcoDynamics vehicles to a leading building technologies group.

The fleet will consist of 120 cee’d SW EcoDynamics cars and will be used by engineers within security, tele-care and fire protection companies – namely, Cirrus, Interphone Security Group and Instant Fire Protection – whilst they visit clients across the United Kingdom to perform installations, upgrades and on-site maintenance.

Following a review into operating costs, the group of companies re-evaluated its existing vehicle fleet and searched the market for a new vehicle that met all the product criteria they were looking for whilst offering significant savings, in terms of contract hire rates, environmental impact and whole-life costs.

“Concerned at the rise in our fleet operating costs we researched the market for a mid-sized estate car that satisfied a number of operational requirements. We were seeking to reduce operating costs for both ourselves and our drivers, demonstrate to our customers we are taking positive steps to reduce our carbon footprint and enhance driver satisfaction by providing a fit-for-purpose vehicle that provided plenty of space, comfort and specification,” explained Ian Green, Group Fleet Manager.

“Kia clearly demonstrated how this could be achieved with the cee’d SW EcoDynamics by offering us savings on our contract hire rates, National Insurance contributions and Benefit-In-Kind. The seven year warranty was also an important factor. Combine all of this with great feedback from our drivers on the cee’d SW’s performance, fuel consumption and specification and I believe we have found the ideal fleet car for our engineers’ use” added Green.

Andrew Sellars, Head of Fleet & Remarketing for Kia Motors UK said: “I’m delighted that our EcoDynamics range has again been chosen by a group seeking a great combination of pricing, ownership costs, equipment and low emissions. Combined with our industry-leading seven year warranty it’s no wonder that many fleet managers are now adding Kia to their shopping lists.”

(more…)

Kia has announced it has produced the very first batch of cee’d Sporty Wagons. Kia cee’d sporty wagon is based on a 5-door Kia cee’d which has been unveiled at Paris Auto Show. Only four cee’d Sporty Wagons were produced so far at Kias Slovakian factory, but the company plans to ramp up production fast to meet the yearly sales targets of 50.000 cee’d sporty wagons.

The first four cars were produced as pilot cars last Friday to test the Sporty Wagon production line. The very first four cee’d sporty wagons will not be on sale, but next 3.000 units that Kia plans to produce after the first pilot production run will be avaliable for European customers. Production will start within a few days and will gradually increase to up to 4000 units per month.

With the 2010 model year, Kia plans to update the cee’d Sporty Wagon. Just yesterday, the company released its first official image of the 2010 Kia cee’d and revealed a much improved and updated exterior look, including the new “face” of Kia.

In addition to Sorento SUV, the cee’d hatchback has been one the first Kia models that customers have been buying for emotional reasons. Since its launch about two years ago, cee’d has been instrumental in placing Kia firmly as one of the top five global automakers.

The 2010 Kia cee’d Sporty Wagon will be officially unveiled at the upcoming IAA Frankfurt Motor Show alongside with new Kia mini MPV and all-new Sorento crossover.

Kia cee’d SW image: