Kia could axe famous hatch used on Top Gear for | Tech News

Kia could axe a model that has been a half of the company’s vary for the previous 19 years and used on Top Gear in favour of a new model.

The Kia Ceed has been the South Korean model’s flagship household hatchback since its launch in 2006, rivalling best-sellers together with the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, and Vauxhall Astra.

The model was the primary Kia to be totally designed in Europe, with its unconventional title standing for ‘Community of Europe, with European Design’.

Three generations of Kia Ceed have been produced over the previous 19 years, with the present model launched at the beginning of 2018 and receiving a facelift in 2021.

Based on the identical platform because the Hyundai i30, the newest Ceed is on the market as a hatchback, compact crossover, or capturing brake-style property, with the bulk of examples that includes a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine.

The Kia Ceed might be best remembered by many Brits for its function as Top Gear’s ‘Reasonably Priced Car’ – with dozens of famous faces getting behind the wheel so as to get the best lap time of the show’s famous circuit.

Appearing on the show nearly each week from 2010 till 2013, A-list celebrities, together with Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, and Mick Fleetwood, all competed to achieve the highest of the show’s leaderboard. Friends star and future Top Gear host Matt LeBlanc recorded the quickest lap within the Kia – finishing the circuit in 1:42.1.

Despite experiencing three years of arduous driving from celebrities, one of the three Kia Ceeds used for the Top Gear section nonetheless exists, that includes the signatures of Ben Collins (who performed The Stig) and Tiff Needell (who hosted the programme within the Nineteen Eighties and 90s) on the dashboard.

Whilst Kia has but to verify that manufacturing of the Ceed will finish, many are speculating that will probably be changed with the K4 – a new household hatchback unveiled on the 2025 New York Motor Show.

The Kia K4 options significantly daring styling, together with a entrance finish with fang-like LED headlights that may also be seen on the EV3 and EV9 and a long, swooping bonnet.

Whilst patrons in America can select between a 2.0-litre or 1.6 turbo petrol, Kia famous that it’ll give new car patrons in Europe the selection between inside combustion engines (ICEs) and all-electric fashions throughout their vary.

Steven Center, COO and EVP for Kia America, highlighted that the K4 is designed to be a significantly sporty various to most different household hatchbacks.

He defined: “After the overwhelmingly positive response to last year’s hatchback teaser in New York, we knew we had struck a chord with car enthusiasts and consumers alike.

“Built on the success of the K4 sedan, this hatchback isn’t nearly model – it’s about perspective. With out there turbo energy, a sport-tuned suspension, a more compact footprint, and distinctive versatility, the K4 Hatchback is designed for those that crave pleasure at each flip.”