Kia’s VW Golf rival impressed our judges. Although there was little to choose between the Cee’d and Golf against the stopwatch, well chosen gearing meant the Cee’d was happier to use second gear at low speeds than the Golf. However, the Cee’d took 11.63 metres to stop from 30mph.
The cabin is roomy, well built and well finished, but the boot isn’t quite as large as that in the Golf, and scored less than half marks from our practicality judges.
The Kia shouldn’t be expensive to run – it’s well priced, there’s a seven-year warranty and official figures suggest over 60mpg is possible. Combined with carbon dioxide emissions of just 125g/km, that’s enough to make the Cee’d our Green Award winner.