In much the same way that you can get behind the wheel of any VW, cover up the badge on the steering boss and still know what you’re driving, the same is true for the new Ceed.
This interior’s mix of materials, its graphics, its infotainment system and the haptic feel of its switchgear all seem familiar; and none will do quite as much for the reputation of Kia in Europe as a Volkswagen Golf’s fixtures and fittings do for the standing of VW. That said, the Kia’s interior is attractive enough at eye level.
The 7.0in floating touchscreen that comes as standard with 2 specification crowns the dashboard in a neat and tidy fashion, and the various infotainment, heating and ventilation controls are integrated cleanly. The shiny soft-touch plastics on the dash top do an unconvincing impression of leather, though, the faux stitching in particular looking untidy; and in a place where a nicely grained slush-moulding would have been better.
Scan towards the footwell and some cheaper-looking materials come to the fore. Hard plastics are used on the lower door cards, the centre console and the lower dash, and the door bins aren’t lined, allowing loose items to rattle and slide around noisily inside them. Although features like these might be forgiven on a value-oriented family hatch, they will need to be addressed if Kia wants the reputation for quality that it has talked about targeting.
The touchscreen doesn’t feature any noticeable drastic change to its software or graphics compared with what we’ve seen in Kia’s other recent market debutants. Its menus are quite intuitive but its responsiveness and visual appeal could both be a touch sharper. As such, it lags behind Volkswagen’s Composition Media system but is on a par with Ford’s Sync3 set-ups.
