Cee'd - tackling the fickle tastes of European markets

Dec 14 2009 Steve Orme

Cee'd - tackling the fickle tastes of European markets

THERE are very likely still some marketing people at Ford and GM afraid to venture out after dark following Hyundai's appearance at the top of the car pops. This horror story wasn't in the script. The Koreans were never meant to overcome the fickle tastes of European markets.

Europe is a much tough nut to crack. People here worry they would not be able to understand a race whose national pastimes include grinning and going to the bankruptcy court but try and get your head around an economic union that has not had its accounts signed off for 15 years and includes nationals who amuse themselves defenistrating farmyard animals.

Take politics. The EU wanted a president. But on the other hand it didn't. So MEPs appointed M. Rumpi-pumpy, a Belgian cyclist no one has ever heard of, who will distinguish the office only by virtue of a silly name.

In their family hatchbacks, European buyers want a quality finish, solid build but nothing that stands out as unusual. Good news for Ford but not so enlivening for Satsuma-Lychee industries.

This is how VW made a success of Skoda, by replacing the Communist manifesto engines, cabbage soup suspension and cardboard upholstery with dumbed down Passats.

Such rules of thumb, of course, exclude the French who think Picasso's draughtsmanship a little on the conservative side and the Italians who see a car as bedroom furniture.

Well done, then, Kia for doing so well in Europe this year and understanding the mind of the man on the Strasbourg omnibus.

The latest cee'd, some models boasting the thrusting new miracle of the age, stop-start technology, is as European as a smudged expenses form. It has been given the new Schreyer grille and reworked suspension with a little help from Lotus and Porsche. All very bratwurst and chips.

Some work was carried out on UK roads, there being a shortage of bomb sites in modern Europe. Ride, handling and steering all show marked improvement.

Right in the middle of the range, at £13,100, sits the 1.6-litre petrol cee'd 2. And just look at this, an interior as tasteful as a Pontefract widow's living room. Soft plastics, a centre console which houses climate control and CD radio that would fit perfectly in the Ford or Vauxhall focus group clip-art books. Expect to see one on a new build estate near you soon.

Equipment reaches the standard, too, with repeater controls on the steering wheel in turn borrowed from the Soul and the requisite electrical operations and passive safety.

Performance is far from continental drift at 10.4 seconds to 62. Kia claims a combined thirst of 46mpg, I don't.

So comfortable to drive, well equipped and with a good quality, roomy, interior. What could go wrong?

Ah, well yes. The 1.6 engine is noisy at motorway speeds - largely because it cries out for a six-speed gearbox.

To fully enjoy this much improved car I can suggest but one, very European, change of domestic policy.

Buy the diesel.