Kia Cee'd (2012-2018) review - Interior, design and technology
More tech inside the Kia’s cabin helps bring it even more upmarket. There’s lots of comfort, but some cheap plastics let the air of quality down.
The biggest update to the interior of the Cee’d is the new connected services system powered by TomTom. This includes live traffic updates for the sat-nav, as well as speed camera alerts, local search functionality and weather data. It’s all controlled by the same touchscreen as before, which is responsive and intuitive to use.
Apart from a few more chrome effect pieces of trim, the interior is identical to the old Cee’d, which is no bad thing. The swooping dash design still looks fresh and the ergonomics are good, with a decent amount of space and storage in the front.
However, while material quality is good on the whole, there are a few areas of cheap, hard plastic that jar with the soft-touch high-quality materials on the dashboard. It unfortunately lets the quality image down when compared with rivals like the Volkswagen Golf.
With a new Brown Pack adding an extra element of customisation to the interior alongside the other colour packs on offer, there’s a little more scope for personalising the Cee’d, especially if you go for the GT Line trim. Apart from this, the standard range of paint colours suits the car.
On the whole, it’s a definite improvement on the outgoing car, with more tech and a few more options to add extra style inside and out. However, lower quality materials in prominent places inside mean you can easily see where Kia has saved some cash.
By adding the GT Line specification to the Cee’d range, buyers can now go for the sporty looks of the Cee’d GT without that car’s firmer suspension and more focused setup.
It adds a deeper front and rear bumper, with the GT’s ‘ice-cube’ LED running lights, side skirts and larger alloy wheels.
The regular Cee’d is a sharp looking car, so these sportier modifications mean there’s even more style on offer, as the Kia integrates its rear doors more subtly than some other vehicles like the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
As above, the new infotainment system boasts some clever connected services that’ll be available to Cee’d owners for seven years as part of the purchase price, but apart from that, there’s not much new. Which is no great shame, as the large, bright, 7.0-inch touchscreen is easy to use, controlling the audio and navigation systems. It’s fairly easy to pair your mobile to, while USB connectivity means you can charge it on the move, too.
