Kia cee'd... the real thing

This images reveals the showroom-ready Kia C'eed station wagon (a close relative of the three-door concept), which debuts at the Paris show and is scheduled to go into production at Kia's Zilinia factory in Slovakia from mid-2007.

It will be the first car to roll out of Kia's state-of-the-art Slovakian plant and is said to be tailor-made to European tastes. That said, we can also expect to see it in Oz showrooms towards the end of next year.

The newcomer is 4470mm long and 1490mm high, which means it's quite large for a C-segment car (it's approximately 265mm longer than a Volkswagen Golf, as well as being marginally taller).

The vehicle has the same 2650mm wheelbase as the five-door hatchback cee'd that also makes its world premiere in production-ready form at the Paris Motor Show and goes on sale in Europe from the end of this year.

The C'eed will be built in a total of three body styles -- three- and five-door hatchbacks, as well as the wagon you see here.

Kia says the fact that the wagon's tailgate is shaped like an inverted 'L' enables it to rise almost vertically, giving enhanced access to cargo area, which is supplemented by additional storage below the floor. 

The Korean manufacturer claims the c'eed marks a major turning point for the brand and heralds a "qualitative revolution".

It's not an idle boast as both Kia and sister brand Hyundai have been rocketing up the pecking order in quality surveys carried out by respected organisations such as JD Power.

Kia has enjoyed strong growth locally in recent years -- it notched up 25,293 Australian sales last year, compared with just 5603 in 1999. A five-fold improvement in six years is nothing less than spectacular.

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