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New Kia cee’d to make its world premiere at Paris Motor Show
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New name represents ‘seed’ for future growth of Kia’s European sales
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cee’d is first Kia to be designed and manufactured in Europe
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First photos of stylish spacious interior reveal top-quality design
Kia Motors Corporation has revealed the name of its all-new family car which will make its world premiere in production-ready form at the Mondial de L’Automobile in Paris on 28 September -- the Kia cee’d (pronounced ‘seed’). Kia has also released the first photographs showing the top-quality design of the stylish, spacious cee’d interior.
“Our new C-segment model marks a major turning point in Kia’s history and is named cee’d for several reasons,” explained Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President of Kia Motors Europe. “cee’d is a short, dynamic and innovative name. It’s unconventional, a name which breaks the automotive rules. A surprising name for a car destined to surprise our rivals and delight our customers. I’m sure the name will get people talking about Kia and also be easy to remember."
“The ‘CE’ symbolizes that this model is made in the European Community and the ‘ED’ indicates this car is a European Design created especially with European consumers in mind. ‘cee’d’ represents the ‘seed’ for abundant growth in Kia sales that the new model will undoubtedly ensure. Finally, we wanted to introduce a fresh name in line with Kia’s brand attributes -- quality, trustworthy and dynamic,” added Lievens.
With its exceptional quality, appearance, style, performance and handling, the Kia cee’d will bring about a landmark change in Kia’s fortunes in the highly competitive C-segment. When it goes on sale in December 2006, the five-door hatchback cee’d will be Kia’s strongest-ever contender for C-segment honors and a genuine challenger to the established class leaders in this closely contested sector.
cee’d will be produced at Kia’s first-ever European manufacturing facility in Slovakia nearby Zilina and will be marketed in Europe. Echoing the stylish appearance of the Kia concept car of the same name (exhibited at the Geneva Show earlier this year), cee’d is a truly European design.
“Conceived in Europe, made in Europe and sold in Europe, cee’d is a modern Kia designed to fulfill 100% of European consumers’ needs,” concluded SVP Lievens.
Kia Motors Corporation (www.kiamotors.com or www.kia.com) -- one of the fastest growing automakers in the world -- was founded in 1944 and is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world’s premier automotive brands. Kia’s 12 manufacturing and assembly operations in 7 countries produce more than 1.1 million vehicles a year that are sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 160 countries. Kia today has over 32,500 employees and annual revenues of almost $16 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Tennis Open and an official worldwide sponsor of the Davis Cup. From 2007 to 2014, Kia will be an official automotive partner of FIFA -- the governing body of the FIFA World Cup. Kia Motors Corporation’s brand slogan -- “The Power to Surprise” -- represents the company’s global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.
