We caught a glimpse of the new Kia Cee'd just a few days ago wearing heavy camouflage, but now our spies have captured another pre-production car with very little covering on the nose. While the Cee'd shares its architecture with the Hyundai i30, Kia will carve its own personality into the hatchback with its trademark tiger nose that we can now see fully exposed. We can also see the sleeker headlights and the overall sporty look that is a fairly significant departure from the previous Cee'd.
The rear of the car is still under heavy cover, but we can see wider taillights with sharper lines underneath the mesh. The license plate has also been moved up as compared to both the outgoing model and the current i30, indicating some significant changes for the rear fascia. Inside the car, expect to see a simpler, sporty look as compared to its Hyundai stable mate, with most functions handled by traditional buttons and knobs versus a large infotainment system. That said, Kia is expected to offer a touch screen in the center stack for at least some Cee'd models.
We don't have any clear indications as to what will power the new Cee'd, but it's likely to share a range of turbocharged gasoline and diesel engines found in the Hyundai. Whether or not a higher performance variant comparable to the i30 N is in the works is unknown, but a longer wagon version is likely to appear further down the road.
Kia is expected to unveil the new Cee'd in a couple months at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Like the Hyundai i30, it will be available for European and Australian markets only.