In mid-2019, Kia did what made the only sense from an economic point of view – raised the compact Ceed, hung some plastic trim on the wheel arches, and turned it into a crossover called the Xceed.
The XCeed is a fair bit smaller than the successful Sportage SUV but just as desirable. After all, this is the best-selling Ceed offspring. Now a facelift is due. The revised version will be presented on Monday in the sporty-looking GT-Line specification.
On the Kia design sketches shown here, you can see the 2023 XCeed with the revised branding and dotted taillight graphic introduced with the Ceed GT/GT-Line last year. From the rest of the Ceed lineup, the XCeed will also inherit the boomerang-shaped LED daytime running lights.
The separate fog lights migrate to the main headlights. The bumper is expanded to include vertical air intakes (probably non-functional) and a curved gloss black design element.
Kia will only sell the new XCeed with mild hybrids and plug-in hybrids. Considering that only electrified engines will be offered, the starting price of the car may increase a little.
The PHEV combines a 1.6-liter petrol engine, a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission, a 44.5 kW electric motor, and an 8.9 kWh lithium-ion battery. According to the manufacturer, the electric range is up to 60 kilometers. The system output is 143 hp and 265 Nm of torque.
If you opt for the plug-in hybrid, you sacrifice a good deal of space on the other side of the car. The trunk volume of the PHEV shrinks from 426 to 291 liters.
If the four-wheel drive is essential for you, you’ll have to go for the next bigger Sportage, for better or worse, because the XCeed is sold exclusively with front-wheel drive. A sporty GT variant with 204 hp is unlikely to even after the facelift. So far, the top motorization was only offered for the Ceed and the Shootingbrake Proceed.
Kia also promises updates in terms of safety systems and infotainment for the optimized version of the XCeed. We’ll know more on July 18th.
