Kia Cee’d Production Hits 200,000 Milestone after 18 Months

Production of the Cee’d family that consists of three body variants (5door, SW and the 3door Pro_Cee’d) at Kia’s all-new Zilina factory in Slovakia has topped the 200,000 mark, 18 months after the first car rolled off the production line at the company’s one-billion Euro facility. The Zilina plant’s productive records this year include 915 units made in a single day on Monday 21 April, 4,474 units in a single week starting 7 April and 19,300 units in one month - April.

"This is another truly significant day for Kia," said Mr In-Kyu Bae, President and CEO Kia Motors Slovakia. "We produced our 100,000th cee’d last September, only 10 months after start-up, and with the addition of the cee’d wagon and pro_cee’d three-door hatch we have reached our 200,000th cee’d after only eight more months. We are proud to have achieved record productivity levels while maintaining excellent build quality."

Kia Pro_Cee’d to take Part in Nurburgring 24-hour Race

This year’s Nurburgring 24-Hour endurance race (May 24-25) has caught the attention of many (mainstream) automakers. However, Kia didn’t go overboard creating a fully race-prepped model like VW did with its Scirocco GT24. Instead, the Korean car manufacture will participate in this weekend’s endurance race with a barely modified three door pro_cee’d that will de driven by a team from Continental Italia.

The pro_cee’d that will take part in the race is powered by Kia’s stock 2.0-liter diesel engine producing 138Hp at 4000rpm and 305Nm of torque from 1800 to 2500rpm. In all, four drivers will share the 1,900km or 1,181 mile long journey between them - Dr Alberto Bergamaschi who already has 360 races under his belt; Gianni Bellani – an experienced long distance race expert; and two experienced touring car drivers, Paolo Cecchellero and Edo Varini.

Frankfurt Review: Kia’s 3.9L/100 Km - 60 MPG Eco_Cee’d

Along with the 3door pro_cee’d, Kia also staged the world-premiere of the eco_cee’d concept car at the Frankfurt Show. Based on the sexy 3door pro_cee’d (it looks even better in person), the eco_cee’d secures better fuel consumption and fewer emissions via minor, but significant modifications. Using the standard Euro-5 compliant, 115 Hp, 1.6-litre diesel engine, Kia’s engineers improved the pro_cee’d’s aerodynamics down to Cd 0.29 (check out the flat floor pan). -Continued: Click “Read More…” below

Additionally, in order to maximize the value of the aerodynamic and powertrain improvements, the eco_cee’d was also fitted with Kia’s new Idle Stop&Go and Regenerative Braking systems. The end result is an avg. fuel consumption of 3.9 liters/100km (which translates to 60 mpg) while CO2 emissions are reduced to just 104 g/km. Comparatively, the standard pro_cee’d 1.6 Diesel (High) sips an avg. of 4,7 liters of diesel for every 100km (or 50 mpg) and while emitting 119 grams of CO2 per km.

2008 Kia Pro-Cee’d: New Details & Images Revealed

Following the release of two teaser images in July and early August, Kia came out with a new set of pictures along with a more detailed press release on its all-new 3door Pro-Cee’d. Due to make its public debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Show in early September, the Pro_Cee’d will join in with its 5door sibling, the Cee’d, in Kia’s C-Segment offensive.

Longer, lower and lighter than its five-door sister car, the Pro-Cee’d is undoubtedly Kia’s best offering in terms of design –even though its butt sinfully reminds us of the 3door Audi A3. According to Kia, the Pro-Cee’d, that’ll go on sale in Europe in early 2008, will be offered in 19 derivatives. Interestingly, buyers will be able to opt for a Sports Pack, consisting of 17-inch alloy wheels with 225/45 R17 tyres, stiffer dampers, sport-concept interior trim (with ‘tyre-track’ pattern fabric and silver stitching, plus alloy pedals and stainless-steel door-scuff plates). Power will come from five Euro4 compliant engines, with power outputs covering a 90 Hp to 143 Hp range. -Press release & image gallery after the jump

Kia confirms up to 19-model line-up for new pro_cee’d

Longer (+15mm) and lower (-30mm) pro_cee’d three-door retains practicality

Full range of cee’d engines, equipment, options and colours to be offered

The World Premiere of the new Kia pro_cee’d at the Frankfurt International Motor Show on 11 September marks a major expansion of the popular Kia cee’d family of cars – with a 19-model line-up of three-door hatchbacks scheduled to go on sale early next year. Longer, lower and lighter than its five-door sister car, the pro_cee’d brings more style and more sportiness to the C-segment in Europe.

“The new Kia pro_cee’d offers consumers sensationally stylish looks with a truly sporty feel to the driving experience, while also retaining most of the practicality and versatility of the popular cee’d five-door hatchback,” enthuses Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President Kia Motors Europe. “With performance, ride and handling that is even more responsive, the pro_cee’d will attract European consumers who find three-door cars particularly appealing.”

The 4250 mm long pro_cee’d delivers class-leading passenger and luggage space. The cee’d family wheelbase (2650 mm) is retained, so despite its lowered, sporty appearance, pro_cee’d provides generous legroom front and rear, and luggage capacity with the rear seats upright matches the five-door model.

“With the pro_cee’d we have communicated sportiness mostly through the car’s exterior design,” explains Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer Kia Motors Europe. “At the front, we have extended the nose by 10 mm and introduced a shallower grille, new-style headlamps, a wider, lower bumper with a prominent lip spoiler, a deeper central air intake and larger fog lights set in elliptical depressions.

“It is the side profile that makes pro_cee’d truly distinctive. The windscreen is much shallower and the vehicle height is reduced by 30 mm. The doors, which are 276 mm longer than the front doors of the five-door cee’d model, have a unique design with a more prominent swage line that highlights the sporty character of this model and a beltline that rises much more steeply towards the rear of the car.

“The side window, C-Pillar and tailgate spoiler are all new and although the rear screen is steeply raked, rear headroom remains good. Unlike other cee’d models, the exhaust tailpipe on the pro_cee’d is boldly displayed,” concludes Guillaume.

The larger pro_cee’d doors with their extra-wide 70 degree openings ensure good access to the rear seats. To boost practicality, Kia’s designers re-styled the rear seat cushion, which is now fixed, and re-engineered the 60/40 split backrest so that it is easy to release and simply folds down onto the cushion with no need to remove the headrestraints.

With pro_cee’d, Kia is offering customers the full choice of cee’d family powertrains – five Euro4 compliant engines, with power outputs covering a 90 ps to 143 ps range, and three transmissions – as offered in the five-door hatchback and wagon models.

Like its siblings, pro_cee’d will also be available with three equipment levels, LX, EX and TX, plus 12 exterior colours and a wide range of optional extras – so that each customer can create a ‘personalised’ vehicle to suit their needs and tastes.

The optional Sports Pack, which comprises 17-inch alloy wheels with 225/45 R17 tyres, stiffer dampers, sport-concept interior trim (with ‘tyre-track’ pattern fabric and silver stitching, plus alloy pedals and stainless-steel door-scuff plates) is expected to be a popular choice with pro_cee’d buyers.

The Kia factory in Zilina, Slovakia will be manufacturing a total of 19 pro_cee’d derivatives, but the model line-up in Kia dealer showrooms may vary country-to-country, depending on local market requirements.

Kia Unveils Pro-cee’d’s Audi A3 Inspired Buttocks

Kia has taken off the wraps on the second preview image of the three door Cee’d, dubbed Pro-cee’d, unveiling the tail of the car which has remained quite close to the original concept previewed at the 2006 Paris Show. Judging from this image, we’d say that former Audi designer Peter Schreyer took a rather close look at the 3door A3 (see pic below) when he penned the Pro-cee’d. In any case, Kia’s sporty hatch looks like quite the piece and we believe that its design will draw a lot of attention in the European C-Segment category (VW Golf, Opel Astra, Renault Megane etc).

“We wanted to make Pro-cee’d as ‘sporty’ as cee’d could possibly be, while still remaining a member of our cee’d family,” explains Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer, Kia Motors Europe. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below

“We are proud that the appearance of the Pro-cee’d production car remains so close to the concept we showed at the Paris Motor Show in 2006. The three-door Kia Pro-cee’d is such a comprehensive re-working of the cee’d design theme that only the bonnet and the front wing panels are carried over from the five door model. All other exterior panels are new and exclusive to this car.”

The new Kia Pro-cee’d three-door hatchback model will make its World Premiere at this year’s Frankfurt International Motor Show on 11 September and will go on sale across Europe in early 2008.

2008 Kia Pro-cee’d: 3door Version Of The Cee’d Revealed

Kia has released the first teaser image of the Pro-cee’d, or to put it simply, the Cee’d 3door hatchback, prior to its World Premiere at this year’s Frankfurt International Motor Show on 11 September. Developed by Kia’s design team in Europe under the direction of Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, the Pro-cee’d is the production version of the ‘pro_cee’d’ concept shown at the Paris Motor Show in 2006.

From what we can make, Kia’s design team seems to have stayed close to the original concept. Compared to the 5door Cee’d, the 3door version features a restyled front bumper and more pronounced rear wheel arches while according to Kia, it’s also longer and lower. Sadly, the Koreans avoided handing out a rear-quarter picture of the Pro-cee’d so we could see if the Audi A3 inspired rear-end of the concept passed into production. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below

Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President Kia Motors Europe commented, “Longer, lower and lighter than its five-door sister car, the new Kia Pro-cee’d is going to be a great drive. Combining real style and genuine practicality, our new three-door cee’d is sure to delight existing Kia customers and attract a new group of European consumers who have not yet considered our brand.”

Like the two other members of the Cee’d family (5door and SW), the Pro-cee’d will be manufactured in Slovakia. According to Kia, production is scheduled to begin in November with first customer sales during the early months of 2008.