First Drive: 2013 Kia Cerato
Posted by on Jan 22, 2013
Dubai, UAE - Kia launched it's revamped C-Segment offering, 2013 Kia Cerato yesterday for the GCC and Middle East markets, at a time when there are over 20 compact sedan models vying for market supremacy in the region. There are two versions, 1.6L and 2.0L with manual and automatic options and multiple option versions. The price tentatively (to be confirmed) is in the range of 55,000 - 69,000 AED.
The first drive started at Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, where senior management from Kia Motors Worldwide and Al Majid Motors gave presentations on the Cerato. This was followed by a convoy drive to Bab al Shams where we had lunch. Post lunch we drove through a scenic route to Rugby Sevens and back to Intercontinental.
First Impressions:
Cerato has more interior features than a typical compact sedan. It has rear AC vents, touchscreen with navigation, sunroof, among many features typically found in a large sedan. This is the strongest selling point of the Cerato.
In terms of drive, it handles reasonably well, although the acceleration lags on highways so it won't be the most exciting drive. However this is quite common in compact sedan models which have small engines, unless you're driving Audi A4 which is not really a competitor of Kia Cerato.
Fuel economy combined officially is given between 6.5 - 7.2 L/100 km depending on the engine. On our long drive, we recorded between 7.5 - 8.0 L/100 km.
In our Q&A session with Kia officials, they listed Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Chevrolet Cruze to be their main competitors. We also add Ford Focus and the newly launched Nissan Sentra to this equation.
Initial Verdict:
We have yet to do a detailed test drive but the interior updates and the price points alone merit a look for this sedan.
One of the key concerns for Kia is about reliability. While Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic may not have as many options as Kia Cerato, they have a reputation for being highly reliable cars with high resale value. This is a challenge for Kia because there have been questions raised about reliability in the past and Kia tends to update or change models much faster than other brands.
So bottom line, Cerato has great features and reasonably good drive, but it has yet to prove itself in the "reliability and resale value" department.
Check Out:
- 2013-2014 Kia Cerato prices and specifications