Kia Motors Slovakia has successfully launched the volume production of a new version of cee’d model which became the most sold model of Kia brand in Europe. The new look of Kia cee’d range of all three body versions will soon make its world premiere on September 15, 2009, at the Frankfurt 63rd International Motor Show. New vehicles will be dispatched from Kia Motors Slovakia plant in Zilina to 40 European and 17 non-European markets. The customers in the Slovak Republic will be able to order enhanced Kia cee’d at the end of September 2009.
“The production of successful Kia cee’d model has lasted for over two and a half years. During this period more than 345,000 vehicles have been produced and placed in all European markets. We believe that upgraded Kia cee’d will strengthen Kia brand sales and attract a lot of new customers. After a several-month preparation and trial production of the new car we expect production stabilization in our plant,” said Dusan Dvorak, a spokesman of Kia Motors Slovakia.
In Slovakia, Kia cee’d has been produced in three body versions since December 2006 – 5-door cee’d, sporty wagon cee‘d_sw and 3-door sporty pro_cee‘d. The model cee’d became the first Korean passenger vehicle which received the maximum 5-star rating in Euro NCAP safety test. According to the latest statistics, the vehicle is a leader in the lower-mid segment on the Slovak market and at the same time it leads also the cumulative C segment in 2009 ranking with the number of 2,462 sold vehicles (statistics for the period of January – June 2009).
Restyled under the direction of Kia’s Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, the new cee’d features the latest version of the company’s signature grille – an evolving expression of the brand’s design DNA. The similar grille design was used for the brand new model Soul and the enhanced model of Kia Magentis.
Kia aims a complete change of design of its model range in the coming three years. During the period from 2009 to 2012 it will introduce 20 brand new or adjusted models which may confirm the high ambitions of the Korean car manufacturer in the design field.
