Kia cee'd

All change for Kia stalk show

Korean car maker Kia has admitted it wasn't quick enough off the mark when it finalised details of the new cee'd

Auto Express Car Reviews

Kia will offer ‘normal’ stalks for first time on Cee’d – but not straight away

10th December 2006

The manufacturer has finally decided to fall into line with virtually every other car maker and put the indicator stalk on the left-hand side of the steering wheel and the wiper controls on the right.

However, it will be the other way round on the first batch of cee'ds destined for the UK in February. A Kia executive told us that bosses in right-hand-drive markets such as Britain weren't speedy enough to tell the Korean engineers what they wanted!

The planned switch by Kia means the only mainstream maker left with indicators on the right will be Hyundai - so could it follow its sister company? The firm had no comment.

Another potential problem for the car is its audio system. It comes with MP3 connectivity as standard, but there are currently licensing issues with iPod maker Apple. It means drivers who buy a car before April won't be able to select tunes through the dashboard controls, only via the player.

A Kia spokesman told us: "I don't believe either of these points will have a major impact on cee'd sales."