• Ceed interior is rather bland
• Well-screwed together but feels built to a price
• Standard equipment levels are good

How is the quality and layout?

‘Sensible’ is probably the best way to describe the Kia Ceed’s interior. That’s both good and bad – it does mean there are fewer aspects likely to annoy you as a driver, like the Volkswagen Golf’s unresponsive touchscreens, but there’s not much to surprise or delight either.

It’s certainly easy to get along with. The Ceed’s switchgear is all positioned logically, and the standard-fit touchscreen infotainment system has a simple and intuitive interface. It’s just a shame that it’s all so unrelentingly dark – the plastics used aren’t particularly nice to touch, even if they do feel very well put-together.

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Infotainment and tech

Entry-level Ceeds come with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system plus a small screen between the dials of the instrument panel. Higher-spec models upgrade both screens, with a larger one in the instrument panel and a 10.25-inch infotainment screen. Fundamentally, though, this is a cosmetic upgrade, and they all work in the same way.

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Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, so even though there’s no sat-nav on the base models you can still connect your phone to figure out where you’re going. And some models feature Kia Connect, which allows you to use a smartphone app to remotely check and control some of the car’s features.

Comfort

• Seats lack support on base models
• Ceed rides well
• Petrol engines are refined

The Ceed performs quite well for comfort. There’s plenty of room, as family hatchbacks go, and few sticking points that will irritate on a long trip.

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The basic seats do lack a little support, but there’s loads of adjustment – they go further back than on many rivals allowing even the tallest drivers to get comfortable.

Refinement isn’t bad, either. The petrol engines are quiet and there’s only moderate wind or road noise, though the diesels can be rather clattery.