Transformational Cerato targets small car leaders

Kia says its new Cerato is primed to take on the might of local small sedan segment leaders, Corolla, Civic and Mazda 3 -- and in the process change perceptions and fortunes of the Korean underdog brand Down Under.

Officially launched this week to coincide with Kia's sponsorship of the Australian Tennis Open, the handsome new four-door has been labelled a "transformational" car by Kia's local executive team.

"The all-new Cerato is what we're calling internally a transformational vehicle," Kia Australia National Marketing Manager, Steve Watt told the media at the car's Melbourne launch yesterday.

"It's going to help shift the perception of Kia from being affordable transportation through to being more appealing, technically advanced, fun-to-drive, great styling, plenty of features and still great prices," Watt opined.

"I suspect most people don't know how sophisticated Kia has become. They're aware we make wallet-friendly cars, and aware we sponsor the Aussie Open, but that's about it.

"Our task in launching this car is to help people re-evaluate our brand, help them understand where we've gone... It [Cerato] heralds a brand new era for Kia..."

That brand new era kicks off at a familiar $18,990. The sub-$19K sticker price buys you the entry-level five-speed manual Cerato S sedan. An extra $2000 will score you the four-speed auto model.

The TD Cerato is built on a new chassis that owes nothing to the outgoing model, but borrows some architecture from the Ceed/i30 hatchback. However there's "no hatch on the cards for now" in new model line-up.

Well-equipped, the base model four-door includes six airbags (including curtains), four-wheel antilock disc brakes, a six-speaker fully iPod compatible audio system and sports Kia's all-new new Theta II 2.0-litre variable valve timing DOHC fuel-injected four-cylinder under the hood.

With 115kW/194Nm, Kia claims the performance high ground for the new powerplant. With a combined ADR fuel figure of 7.8L/100km for the manual (0.1L more for the auto) the company is also spruiking the car's green credentials -- its 4.5 star rating in the Australian Government's Green Vehicle Guide is top of its class, says Kia.

Though stability control is not standard on the base Cerato, it's available in an option pack that includes traction control, cruise control and steering wheel audio controls at a modest $1000 premium.

The top of the range Cerato SLi gets the full safety suite and is priced from $22,990 for the manual. Other niceties such as 17-inch alloy wheels (the S gets 15-inch steel wheels plus trims), Kia's new 'Super Vision' instrument panel with graphical rear park assist display, rear park assist, auto headlamps, climate control air and other goodies are all included.

It's this model, that'll you see starring in Kia's new advertising campaign, championing the car's well-resolved cab-forward, dare we say, Honda-ish new look.

One of the key elements of the new Cerato's styling will increasingly become a calling card for the brand -- the new 'Schreyer Line' grille. Referencing Kia's global design boss, Peter Schreyer, the grille is said to represent a "tiger's roaring force". Penned by the ex-Volkswagen Audi Group design leader, the grille features top and bottom centre 'fillets'. It will eventually find its way onto the pointy end of all Kias.

In anticipation Kia will subtitle its brand messaging with the motto "Kia Design Driven". It'll also reinforce this design focus locally with the release of the funky Soul five-door and a coupe version of the Cerato before the end of 2009 (see separate story).

Kia Australia is reluctant to commit to sales volumes for the new Cerato. New President and CEO Terry Im says he's aiming for around 4000 sales for 2009. Though this is around double what the outgoing Cerato achieved in 2008, it equates to barely two months volume for the top-selling small sedan models Down Under.

"The first challenge is to get [Cerato and Kia] at top of mind and get some share of voice," marketing boss Watt told the locally media when quizzed on sales projections.

"The sales targets are very conservative... The numbers are plan numbers only -- we'd like to sell far more than that. [Hyundai] i30 sells between 700-900 units per month and we'd like to think we could be challenging up in that area.

"That's out ambition but we need to swing the minds of consumers first and that's hopefully what we're doing with this launch phase [of the Cerato]," Watt said.