Stars in a reasonably priced Kia

After being tested and found up to the mark by The Stig, Kia’s cee’d 2 1.6 manual five door C-segment challenger has made its first appearance as BBC2 Top Gear’s “Reasonably Priced Car” in the latest series of the hit TV show.

The car was put through its paces by the white-helmeted mystery-man at the programme’s Surrey test track prior to Kia being asked to provide three identical red cars for the latest series of the show.

Stephen Kitson, Communications Director of Kia Motors (UK) Ltd., said: “The last time Top Gear paid us any attention I think they tried to build one of our cars out of washing machines – so this is quite a step forward in their understanding of just how Kia has changed over the last six years.

“The cee’d has become a strong player in the mid-sized family car market and just this year J.D.Power named it best small-medium car in their annual quality survey – so it should stand up well to anything the star guests can throw at it.

The £13,930 cee’d 2 1.6 manual –that comes with Kia’s unmatched 7 Year Warranty - features a four-cylinder 1,591 cc engine producing 124 brake horse power and a very flexible 113 lb’ft of torque. Capable of returning 46.3 mpg on the combined cycle the cee’d emits 146gms of CO2 per kilometre – though in use in the show it is unlikely to match that performance.