• Logical cabin layout
• Materials are high-quality
• A bit dark and dingy

The Ceed Sportswagon’s dashboard is identical to the regular Ceed’s, and by extension the Proceed and Xceed models too. By and large, that’s a good thing: Kia’s dashboard layouts are among the most intuitive in the business with easy-to-use buttons and dials rather than an over reliance on touch-sensitive controls like on the Golf Estate.

Material quality is good, too. There’s a range of pleasant soft-touch materials even on entry-level cars, though as you move down the dashboard some cheaper plastics do make themselves known. We just wish it was a little less dour, with heavy use of black and dark grey materials making it feel a bit dingy, especially in the back.

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Infotainment

The entry-level 2 trim (which is currently off-sale) shipped with a seven-inch infotainment touchscreen, with a sharper, more responsive 10.25-inch screen on all other models. Both are refreshingly straightforward, though the interface isn’t as attractive as a Volkswagen Golf’s it’s far more intuitive. It certainly knocks the Toyota Corolla Estate into a cocked hat in terms of responsiveness and ease of use.

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The 2 specification does without built-in sat-nav, but that’s not really a problem since there’s a USB input with Apple Carplay and Android Auto as standard, allowing you to plug in your phone to use as a navigator. Cars with the 10.25-inch system get built in nav bundled in.

Plug-in hybrid cars get a separate page on the multimedia screen with information on battery range, how economical your driving is and whether the electric or petrol motor is driving the wheels.

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Comfort

• Good driving position
• Seats could do with more side support
• No back issues after a long drive

There’s plenty of adjustment in the driving position, and Kia allows its seats to be slid much further back than the norm, which is great for tall drivers. The pedals, wheel and seats all line up well, leaving you with a good driving position.

The seats are supportive enough when you’re driving in a straight line, but we’d like bigger side bolsters to hold you in place during fast cornering.