Kia Ceed facelift at 2009 Frankfurt motor show

By Ben Pulman

First Official Pictures

10 August 2009 10:01

The Ceed is the car that changed our perception of Kia, and three years after launch the first model the Korean company designed and built entirely in Europe has been given a mid-life facelift.

The new looks are obvious, with revised headlights and a tweaked grille meant to give the Ceed the latest Korean family face seen on the Soul. There are also tweaked rear lights, while new front and rear bumpers make the Ceed 25mm longer than before.

Inside Kia is promising more standard equipment, a new steering wheel and gearlever, red back-lighting for the instrumentation, plus tweaks to the centre console and audio systems.

Under the bonnet the 2.0-litre diesel engine will be dropped, and the other engines will be revised to help cut emissions by around 5%. Replacing the 2.0 will be two new variants of the existing 1.6-litre oil-burner, now available in 148bhp and 187bhp guises and mated to a new six-speed manual.

There will also be a new 1.6 diesel-engined Eco-Dynamics model fitted with Kia's ISG start-stop technology – it will carry a small premium over the regular Ceeds, but achieve 110g/km CO2. The new Ceed goes on sale in the UK from 1 October 2009.

By Ben Pulman