Can Kia Motors Europe do no wrong? Sales keep rising across EU and EFTA markets, and none is stronger than the UK. Here, the brand is outselling Hyundai. Its lead is slim, so crucial new cars such as the Stonic and smaller volume ones such as the Niro plug-in hybrid will be key if the company manages a first and overtakes the parent brand for the full year.

Outselling Hyundai in Britain

Kia is an impressive 10,000 units ahead of Land Rover and only 8,000 behind Toyota.

How close an inter-company battle is it for first and second positions in the British market? Very. Hyundai was ahead in September, delivering 16,587 vehicles (-2.65%) to Kia’s 15,706 (+2.39) although over the nine months, it’s Kia which leads, 76,571 to 75,315. It is also a commanding 10,000 units ahead of Land Rover and only 8,000 behind Toyota.

Even a couple of years ago, stating that Kia would be 33,000 units ahead of Citroen in the UK going into the final quarter of 2017 would have been hard to take seriously. Consistent progress has been made by offering high quality, ever more attractive cars with great interiors – the Sportage is the perfect example – backed up by the industry’s most generous warranty. The dealer network gets high marks too.

Addressing C segment woes with BD

It’s not all great news for the brand, as the cee’d, now entering its final 12 months, is fading. Kia Motors Europe has looked hard at the C segment and made some changes to its product plans. BD, which is the internal code for the third generation model, will extend to new body styles, and see the end of an existing one.

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The car’s name is also said to be coming in for a modification, changing from cee’d to Ceed. What is now known as the pro_cee’d (three-door) will be dropped but the cee’d wagon/estate will be replaced, along of course, with the five-door hatchback. As the K3/Forte/Forte are around the same size, it’s said that these cars, which are sold mainly outside Europe, will become part of the BD project. Which means a sedan, and possibly a replacement for the two-door Koup. That makes four cars but insiders speak of six in all. The other two should be a crossover and a five-door low-roof hatchback/shooting brake. The last of these we have already seen an outline of: the KED-12 Proceed concept, which was premiered six weeks ago at the Frankfurt IAA.

The Ceed should have its world debut at the 2018 Geneva motor show and enter production a month later (April). It will use the same platform as the Hyundai i30. There will be mild hybrid, EV and possibly PHEV versions too.

Can Kia sell 100,000 cars a year in Britain?

Given Kia’s plans to take on the Golf class with such gusto, we shouldn’t be surprised if sales records for the brand continue to tumble in all European countries, not just in Britain. The UK remains KME’s number one market and crossing the 100,000 threshold must surely be the next goal.

Big numbers are one thing, profits are another. It does seem though that Kia has found the magic formula for achieving both. In simple terms, it’s always having the right cars for the times, culling ones which don’t work or which are in declining segments, and steadily lifting prices and image. The arrival of the Stinger in early 2018 shows how far the brand has travelled.

PHEVs: low volume, high pricing

Kia has also dabbled in EVs, with a low volume electric Soul and now, it’s aiming to see how much demand there might be for a plug-in hybrid powertrain in the Niro. This follows the earlier additions of the Optima PHEV saloon and estate, each priced several thousand pounds more than the diesel-engined equivalents (the PHEVs are the only Optimas sold in Britain with petrol engines).

In a similar style, the new Niro sits atop the existing Niro Hybrid multi-variant line-up variant. There is a single PHEV variant in ‘3’ trim priced from GBP30,495 less GBP2,500 for the government plug-in grant, which means GBP27,995. As the Hybrid costs between GBP21,635 (‘1’ model grade) and GBP27,680 (‘4’), it’s quite a jump from these cars to the new one. Kia is yet to say where it will position next year’s Niro EV, should that model be coming to Europe.

Manufacturing

Kia builds both Niros at its largest plant, Hwasung. The electric model will be made at this Korean factory too. The platform is shared with the Hyundai Ioniq and was especially developed to accommodate bulky batteries and associated ancillaries. The company says that 53 per cent of the car’s basic structure is high-strength steel, with aluminium used for the bonnet, tailgate panel and front bumper back beam. Several chassis elements are also constructed from this material and this includes the front knuckles and lower arms as well as the brake callipers. Meanwhile, hot-stamped steel reinforces the roof rails, A pillars, B pillars and roof rails. Weight is between 1,500 and 1,566kg.

How realistic is the official fuel consumption average?

The official Combined consumption is 64.2mpg and would you believe it, I managed to achieve a rounded down 62mpg and was impressed by that. Most of the driving was on A roads and a minimum was in city traffic so the 1,580cc petrol engine worked hard. You also have to give it a heavy right foot too, as with only 104bhp and 147 lb/ft at a high 4,000rpm, it needs encouraging. Would an owner drive the car this way? Yes and no. Choosing any PHEV means you’d be someone who wants to recharge at work and/or home. Which would likely lead to better economy than what I saw. On the other hand, keeping up with motorway traffic sees economy falling, although if you stick to the speed limit or sit in the far left lane at 60, there will be a decent reward in the form of an extended gap between visits to fuel stations.

Interior: living up to the premium pricing?

It’s a good first impression on the inside of the Niro PHEV: just like other Niros. Kia wants you to think of this mainly as an electric car, which is why there is no rev counter. In its place is a digital arc with a needle which swings from Off to Charge, Eco or Power. 

In electric mode, which can be selected by pressing an EV/HEV button, a green light illuminates below the the charge meter. Within the arc, there is a digital display which displays the estimated remaining range on petrol as well as the fuel gauge and how much energy is stored in the battery.

Kia calls the PHEV Niro an Eco plug-in. These words can be seen on a tailgate badge as well as to the left of the navigation system screen and at the bottom of the speedometer, which reads to an ambitious 140mph.

As with the non plug-in Niros, the transmission is a DCT rather than a manual or torque converter automatic gearbox. Drive is to the front axle only. 

A few annoying things include no spare tyre, and the curious omission of an intermittent setting for the wipers. Instead, you are stuck with only off, 1, 2 or the to-slow-to-react Auto. And although the Niro has a far more attractive interior than the Prius PHEV, it’s a pity that the Kia lacks the little lever which the Toyota has for directing kinetic energy into the batteries. Long a feature of the Prius series, when descending hills, the driver can press B for engine braking instead of the pedal, the car slows and the meter showing stored power goes satisfyingly into the Charge zone.

Probably due to all of Kia’s efforts at making the Niro slide through the air with the minimum of drag, braking is needed more often than is ideal, making for a less than relaxed journey, with the pedal being quite sensitive too. I guess you would get used to it, and change the way you have to drive so as to ensure smooth progress.

Another thing which didn’t work so well was this car’s automatic high beam activation. Like so many other models, this one often either leaves you in the dark or occasionally decides that it wishes to blind oncoming drivers. Doing stuff in cars can keep us alert. I’m all for blind-spot alerts and reversing cameras but try to stay in the habit of looking over my shoulder. So let’s say thanks but no thanks to auto wipers and headlights and yes please to intermittent wipers front and back.

This is sounding as though I really disliked the Niro. I didn’t; it’s just that for twenty eight grand, you are entitled to expect a premium feeling experience, something which a Golf GTD provides for just under GBP27,000. Wet Weekend In Whitby grey plastic was seemingly everywhere in the press tester although black plastic here and there did a little to offset the gloom. This would be easily fixed: how about some of that coloured felt which Volvo has been showing off in the XC40 for the door trims?

Back to the stuff that’s great and room to move in every one of the five seats is close to the top of the list. If you’re way over six foot tall, no problem front or back. And if long in the legs too, this could well be your car. Does this mean a small boot, especially given that there is a big battery pack mounted low down? No it doesn’t. HMG engineers cleverly developed the Niro and Ioniq architecture with minimal intrusion to the luggage compartment in mind. 

Summary

Yes, there are some small but annoying faults with the Niro PHEV but none is really serious enough to put off anyone who loves the look of the car, and for whom the business case stacks up. Plug it in at home and at work and have no need to travel more than about 25 miles a day even in hot or cold weather (the official range is 36 miles) and the PHEV might make a lot of sense. With a fast charger, that will take two hours and forty five minutes. Moreover, its 29g/km CO2 number means a nine percent BiK rate of taxation for business buyers.