Designed, developed, produced and sold in Europe. The Korean maker Kia thought of the Ceed as a car especially for the Old Continent. It is now in its third generation and available in three versions: saloon, station wagon and a shooting brake, bearing the name of Proceed and with an original architecture. “The new Proceed is an audacious revision, embodying the youthful dynamism of Kia to express emotions. With this car we have created a unique proposition in the medium-sized family segment”, says Gregory Guillaume, Head of Kia design in Europe.
With his team in Frankfurt, under the supervision of Peter Schreyer, head of design at the Korean Hyundai-Kia group, Guillaume has designed a shooting brake with dynamic, sporty lines, by focusing on certain fundamental points. The car’s design was the result of close analysis and the design story can be read in the January issue of Auto&Design (no. 234). The front end design follows the style featured on the saloon and station wagon versions, to such an extent it becomes difficult to distinguish them: the setup is unchanged, with the characteristic “Ice Cube” LED daytime running lights and the “Tiger Nose” at the centre of the grille.
What has radically changed is the rear end. Just a look at the profile reveals immediately how much the line of the roof slopes down quickly to merge into the rear end. The inclined C-pillar increases the sporty feeling transmitted by the Proceed. The feelings are confirmed by the numbers: comparing the angle of the rear window of the saloon, Sportwagon and Proceed, the results are 50.9° for the first, 52.4° for the second and 64.2° for the shooting brake.
We test drove the Proceed with a 140bhp 1.6 turbo petrol engine on the roads around Barcelona and put it through its paces on the Parcmotor de Castellolí circuit. Even though the car is made for long journeys, it is fun to drive and is no disappointment even on the fastest bends. Inside there is once again the rational style of the set up seen on the Ceed and Ceed Sportwagon, but with certain details conceived exclusively for the Proceed: the sporty steering wheel cut at the bottom, metal inserts and paddles in aluminium on the steering wheel, if the automatic version is chosen. The Proceed will be available in two models, GT and GT Line, ten colours and with 17 or 18 inch alloy wheels.
