The new Kia Cerato saloon has earned a lot of praise in the short time it has been on South African roads. Admiration has been expressed for its classy looks, spacious interior and solid performance.
I stepped into the Cerato after a spell in the Hyundai i20 hatchback, which could be called its close cousin because Hyundai and Kia are to all intents and purposes the same company.
There’s an even stronger link than that because the Cerato I was driving, the 1.6-litre, has the same engine as the i20. The difference is that the 1.6-litre i20 is the big brother of its range and the 1.6 Cerato has 2-litre siblings, including one with an auto gearbox.
Pricing on the Cerato is as follows: the 1.6 5-gear manual, R179 900; the 1.6 auto, R189 900; the 2-litre 5-speed manual, R199 995; and the 2-litre auto, R209 995.
It is competing in the class dominated by Toyota’s Corolla, which starts at R179 000 for an entry-level 1.3-litre. VW’s cheapest Jetta, the 1.6 Trendline, costs R216 000.
As I was saying, I came to the Cerato from the i20, which I absolutely loved, so it was going to be a hard act to follow. And so it proved. I did not like the indirect feel of the Kia steering, noted that the driver’s door window had only an auto-down function, not an auto up-AND-down, and that the engine seemed to be more noisy, at the same speeds, than the Hyundai hatch motor. (Yes, I know they are the same, but the one seems to be differently geared).
But the Cerato certainly grows on you. After a while I discovered that when you were in a hurry and drove it hard, the Kia was a lot of fun.
It has other plus points, including connectivity for iPod, USB and auxiliaries; comfortable seats; a comprehensive onboard computer which showed, among other things, that the fuel consumption got as low as 7litres per 100km at one stage; there are smart alloy wheels; and the boot is big. (One irritating thing about the boot that must be mentioned – there seems to be only two ways of opening it, one through a lever next to the driver’s seat and another through a button on the remote-control fob. Unfortunately the fob button did not always work, meaning you had to use the interior lever every time. This might be seen as a security device, preventing passers-by from popping the boot when you are stuck in traffic, but it was annoying.)
Cars in this class are normally regarded as Blandness Inc, but the Cerato is not at all bad-looking. The lines are clean with the suggestion of a power bulge on the bonnet.
Surprisingly the car does not complain when front occupants don’t door up their seat belts, but it does beep if you leave the key in the ignition with the driver’s door open.
There are no door bins for rear occupants but there is a storage bin/armrest between the front seats.
The tank holds 54litres (against the 45litres of the Hyundai i20), the motor puts out a satisfying 91kW and 156Nm. You get most of the things you expect in a car of this class and a lot more than is offered in its price rivals.

The Cerato is part of the Kia campaign to offer as wide a range of models as possible, from the appealing Picanto, the bigger Rio hatch, the eye-catching Soul and the oddly named pro-cee’d (that’s how they write it) , the popular Sportage, the big Sorento and Sedona).
Certainly this classy saloon won’t let the side down and will play a part in the continued growth of Hyundai/Kia.
The Cerato comes with Kia’s extraordinary five-year/150 000km warranty and a three-year/60 000km service plan.

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