Kia expands its European-built cee’d range in September 2007 with its first-ever estate car - the cee’d SW. It is made at the company’s state-of-the-art factory at Zilina in Slovakia alongside the acclaimed five-door hatchback cee’d, the model that has transformed public and press perception of Kia.
Like the hatchback, the cee’d SW comes with an industry-best seven-year or 100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty - an unrivalled expression of faith in the cars coming out of Zilina.
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With the arrival of the cee’d SW, Kia will have a model to appeal to more than 80% of C-segment buyers. The segment overall accounts for a little over a fifth of all UK new-car sales (some 500,000 cars a year), with estates making up around nine percent of the total (around 42,000 units).
Compact MPVs and SUVs have tended to diminish the significance of estates in recent years, but there is now evidence that a reversal of that trend is happening. MPVs and SUVs not only involve styling and dynamic compromises, but are becoming increasingly expensive to buy and run, a vital consideration for fleet operators and drivers who make up four out of five C-segment estate users. Estates have the potential to replace MPVs and SUVs as a specific lifestyle choice.
Ingenuity as standard
The cee’d SW has the same 2650mm wheelbase as the five-door but the body has been stretched by 235mm behind the rear axle line. It is also 10mm taker, excluding roof rails.
The ingenious tailgate has been shaped and mounted so it looks stylish and makes it easier for owners to load the car. The top hinges are moved 225mm further forwards, extending the tailgate into the roofline. The upswing and outswing are both reduced by 72mm, so owners can stand closer to the car and it can be fully opened in restricted parking spaces or garages.
The cee’d SW has one of the most accessible load areas in the C-segment. Capacity up to the rear window line is 534 litres, with 55 litres in trays beneath the boot floor - almost 200 litres more than the cee’d hatchback and with the 60:40 split rear seats folded flat there are 1664 litres - 300 more than the hatchback.
cee’d SW is the first Kia to have its indicator stalk on the “traditional” side. Until now, all Kia models have had the stalk on the right allowing the driver to use the indicators whilst changing gear. Responding to customer requests this will be applied across the entire range in due course.
The cee’d SW comes with three proven 1.6-litre engines - one petrol and two turbo-diesel - all from the five-door cee’d. This line-up gives Kia the broadest market coverage - engines of around 1.6-litre capacity account for the majority of C-segment estate sales in the UK - while maintaining a simple and compact range.
This allows Kia to make maximum penetration in the fleet market, responsible for the majority of 2006 C-segment estate sales and diesels accounting for two-thirds. Unlike many of its traditional ‘boxy’ competitors, it is expected that cee’d SW will appeal to retail buyers looking for an alternative to the typical MPV or SUV family car.
Like the hatchback, the SW has the comparative rarity in the C-segment of all-round independent suspension to benefit ride and handling and comes with traction, stability and braking aids to protect and assist owners in the most arduous driving conditions.
Competitive power range
The turbo-diesel engines are the new 1.6-litre CRDi units introduced in December 2006 for the cee’d hatchback. Designed, engineered and manufactured in Europe, they are offered in two states of tune - 89bhp and 113bhp. Along with the 120bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine from Korea, they give the SW a competitive range of power outputs. All are Euro-4 compliant.
Five-speed manual gearboxes are standard, but a four-speed automatic is available with the petrol engine, and is also planned to be an option with the high-powered diesel engine in both SW and hatchback versions of the cee’d for the first time in November 2007.
The cee’d SW follows the hatchback in delivering class-leading levels of refinement. The company’s European-based engineers have made full use of the new car’s exceptionally stiff bodyshell to pare noise, vibration and harshness to the bone, while the aerodynamic teams have created a shape that cuts through the air with minimum resistance.
Comprehensive safety
Kia provides cee’d SW customers with exactly the same level of comprehensive safety afforded buyers of the five-door hatchback, which makes it one of the safest C-segment cars on sale.
It has the same dynamic responses that allow drivers to accelerate, steer or brake away from potentially hazardous situations; offers the most up-to-date active safety features that prevent the car from going out of control in the most extreme manoeuvres; and of the worst comes to the worst, has a rigid bodyshell that deforms progressively plus a battery of passive safety aids to reduce the risk of injury.
Kia’s own computer-simulated tests point to a five-star Euro NCAP frontal accident protection rating when the five-door cee’d is officially crash-tested later this year, and the SW will offer the same level of safety.
Two trim levels
The cee’d SW is offered with only the two upper trim levels from the hatchback - GS and LS - in line with market demands. The entry-level S trim on the hatchback appeals largely to retail customers while the SW will predominantly be a fleet car: some eight out of 10 C-segment estates are fleet purchases in the UK.
Both trim levels come with all the features found on the equivalent hatchback, plus a number of supplementary items: the extended tailgate with its forward-mounted hinges that reduce upswing and outswing, silver roof rails, a 55-litre under-floor luggage tray, a cargo security screen, luggage net hooks and a 12-volt power outlet in the boot. All of these features are standard on the SW.
Prices are £700 more than the equivalent hatchback while major competitors - Ford Focus estate, Vauxhall Astra estate and the Renault Megane Sport Tourer - show increases of up to £970 between 5-door hatch and an equivalent-spec wagon. The cee’d SW follows the hatchback in delivering the highest quality coupled with outstanding value for money for which Kia is renowned.
