New-Look Cerato Cements KIA’s Dedication to Excellence.

Despite South Africa’s love for large and commanding SUVs, KIA’s compact sedan and hatch offering, the Cerato, has sold well, find a place of its own in many a driveway.

October sees the release of a revamped, refreshed offering with tweaked styling and a more engaging drive. Variant options also change somewhat with KIA dropping the not-so-popular models in favour of a streamlined line-up.

Quality First

J.D Power conducts an annual quality survey in the U.S.A. every year, listing the most reliable and well-assembled vehicles.

“The study, now in its 30th year, examines problems experienced by vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership. Initial quality is determined by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality.” summarizes J.D Power in their release of the 2016 results.

This survey found KIA to be the highest scoring brand, industry-wide, in this year’s study, toping the likes of Porsche, Toyota and BMW.

It also claimed top honours in the Autobild (Germany) Quality Study for 2015.

Award Winning Looks

The revamped Cerato capitalizes on the success of the current design, crafted by the most celebrated design team in the motor industry. Each and every KIA offering has won a prestigious Red Dot Design Award.

The facelift sees the introduction of a new set of headlights for both the sedan and coupe. They also see the addition of updated black trim on the trademark Tiger-Nose front grille. The bonnet has been reprofiled and this rests above a revamped bumper and fog-lamps.

The rear of the sedan models also gets a new bumper and tail-light treatment and new alloy wheels can be found on both the sedan and hatch.

Inside the Cerato, you’ll find new materials being used to elevate not only the appearance, but also the feel of the cabin. These new materials extend to the dashboard, the door card inserts and center fascia. Piano black and silver trims lend themselves to a more upper-end look and feel.
While the entertainment system is starting to fall behind in terms of functionality and appearance, the overall package is still presenting great value for money.

Improved Drive

KIA has fitted the new Cerato with their DMS (Drive Mode Select) on their automatic models, which allows the driver to choose from three different driving modes. Here you’ll get Normal, Sport and Comfort which weight-up the steering or reduce the effort required to maneuver the vehicle.

As is to be expected, the Cerato is an easy car to drive and just as easy to live with, with large door openings and a quiet, refined drive. The motors are the tried and tested units that hum along pleasantly while managing to return respectable fuel consumption figures.

Streamlined Lineup

Having noticed that the sales of the top-spec 2.0-litre SX models were on a steady decline, KIA South Africa has opted to drop this model from their line-up. While the 2.0-litre motor is still available in the lower specification EX trim, the 1.6-litre SX will now assume the role of the range topper.

Pricing remains competitive in their class, especially considering the relatively high level of standard trim.

This means that the range now looks as follows:

KIA Cerato 1.6 EX Manual (Hatch & Sedan)	R299 995
KIA Cerato 1.6 EX Automatic (Hatch and Sedan)	R312 995
KIA Cerato 2.0 EX Manual (Hatch & Sedan)	R340 995
KIA Cerato 2.0 EX Automatic (Hatch & Sedan)	R353 995
KIA Cerato 1.6 SX Manual (Hatch only)	R344 995
KIA Cerato 1.6 SX Automatic (Sedan only)	R357 995

      
All Cerato models come standard with KIA’s 5-year / Unlimited Km warranty and 5-years / Unlimited Km Roadside assistance with a 5-year / 90 000km Service Plan.