60-second summary
What is it?
The new Kia ProCeed is a shooting brake version of the Korean brand’s Euro-built family hatch.
Key features
Sleek styling
Large boot
Effective diesel
Our view
The new Kia ProCeed adds a worthy extension to the Ceed family car range. While it boasts a much more stylish exterior look, this does not come at the expense of practicality.
In all other areas, it replicates the qualities that have already made its hatch sister a success. An effective diesel will also make this car a tempting proposition for high-mileage fleet drivers.
Similar cars
Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake, SEAT Leon ST, Mini Clubman.
Full review
Introduction
The new Kia ProCeed is the third body style to be released in the latest generation of the brand’s family car range. But it is quite different to both the already launched hatch and Sportswagon estate models, and the model that it replaces.
That car was a sort of three-door hatch, Kia’s first tentative bid to knock on the door of the hot hatch market, and it was called the pro_cee’d. Even motoring journalists routinely wrote its name incorrectly – we are very likely not the only ones relieved that Kia no longer feels the need to give cars very silly names to make them stand out.
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Particularly as the ProCeed will stand out for much better reasons. This is a ‘Shooting Brake’, a body style drawn from the mists of history but not very well known these days. The only directly comparable currently available car is the CLA Shooting Brake from Mercedes-Benz, and you will need at least £4,000 more to buy one of those…
The ProCeed is a five-door sort-of-estate with coupe-like styling. It extends the luggage capacity of the hatch by half as much again, and while the 594 litres available is not the 625 of the Ceed SportWagon estate, the payback is that it comes in much more shapely surroundings.
This is a good-looking car, and distinctly different to the Ceed hatch – bonnet and front wings are the only shared body parts. The ProCeed shaves half a centimetre from its ground clearance compared to the Ceed, but a whole 4cm from the roof height, in a car slightly longer (well, half a centimetre) than its estate sibling.
The big difference is towards the back – a strong coupe shape sweeps down to end in a shallow-angled rear screen, just 26 degrees from the horizontal compared to the 38 degrees of the hatch. As a result, the side profile is dominated by tall metal and slim glass.
Careful detailing ensures that it all harmonises very well, just one example being a thin LED light line running across the back connecting the two lamp clusters – in the dark you will know you are following a ProCeed.
The rear three-quarter view is particularly satisfying – viewed from this angle the ProCeed has a hint of Porsche Panamera about it.
Buying and owning a Kia ProCeed
Choosing a ProCeed is quite easy as there are three engine options, all already offered in the hatch, and three trim choices. There are no base trims like on the Sportswagon estate, the choice being between the higher-spec GT-Line grade launched at the Paris show in October, a sporty-pitched GT and the range-topping GT-Line S.
Kia’s 1.4-litre turbo unit forms the mainstream petrol choice, with 140hp. GT models use the 1.6-litre unit with more than 200hp on tap.
Kia is also refusing to join the rush to abandon diesel, offering a 1.6-litre unit of 136hp. This is a sensible move as the ProCeed will be tempting to high-mileage fleet drivers for whom diesel still makes economic sense.
Prices start at £23,835 for the 1.4 with a six-speed manual gearbox, the diesel version costing £850 more. Replacing the manual transmission with a seven-speed auto adds another £1100 to the bill.
For your money you get a standard equipment list including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone compatibility, navigation and a reversing camera.
Costing £28,135 and only available with the auto transmission, the GT adds leather and faux suede upholstery, auto parking, larger 18-inch alloy wheels and a host of styling touches in gloss black, gloss red and chrome. A rear diffuser, twin exhausts and LED headlamps complete the sporty look.
The LED headlamps, 18-inch alloys, auto parking and leather also come supplied on the £28,685 GT-Line S, only offered in 1.4 petrol form and again with auto shifting. A wide sunroof, 10-way electric adjustment of the driver’s seat, heated rear seats, auto parking, adaptive cruise control, a power tailgate and wireless phone charging are also included.
Of course, every ProCeed also comes with Kia’s seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, which is transferrable should one sell the car and an element not to be undervalued.
Euro NCAP is yet to crash-test the latest Ceed range. The ProCeed does offer a suite of driver aids as standard and these include autonomous emergency braking as part of the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system. Lane-keeping, driver attention and high-beam aids are also included.
Curiously, the FCA includes pedestrian warning as standard only on manual-gearbox versions – on auto models it has to be specified as part of an optional ‘Advanced Driving Assistance’ pack that also includes such niceties as Lane-Following Assist (LFA). A step up from adaptive cruise control and working between 0 and 81mph, LFA controls steering, acceleration and brakes to keep the car central between lane lines on motorways, and separate from vehicles in front.
Continued on next page: Interior, drive experience and our verdict
