Kia Proceed – everyday style, competitive price, nice drive

There are a few cars that stand out, in a classy way, to the normal run of standard, bold and doubtful looks.

Think of the Mercedes Benz CLA, the Volkswagen Arteon Shooting Brake and the Genesis G70 Shooting Brake. Another addition to that list, albeit slightly smaller, is the Kia Proceed. This is a car that doesn’t at first glance seem to have a point, it’s less practical than the Ceed estate, is more-costly than the exceptional Ceed hatchback. So why would you buy it?

Well, to begin with style, it stands out from the crowd and for all the right reasons, especially if you opt for the extra cost Orange Fusion paintwork,. It’s a classy and sporty looking car that’s more practical then you might imagine, despite the rather narrow load aperture. For those wanting a family holdall with a dash of sporting good looks the Proceed fits the bill nicely.

Just three versions make up the range, the GT Line in manual or automatic form and the GT Line S. Prices start at €31,821/£26,855 and top out at €38,273/£32,315. My GT Line with 7-speed DCT automatic transmission weighs in at €32,952/£27,810. For that you get a lot of standard kit including auto lights and wipers, LED lights, privacy glass, auto dimming rear view mirror, powered, heated and folding door mirrors, heated front seats and steering wheel, dual zone air conditioning, navigation, Apple Car Play and Android Auto, tyre pressure monitoring and a reversing camera and parking sensors. Phew!

The 1.5-litre engine develops 138 bhp and isn’t especially quick at 9.9 seconds to the benchmark 100 kph. However, it’s not all about speed and the Proceed is more than capable of holding its own in the cut-and-thrust of day-to-day driving. It has super handling and can be a lot of fun if you find some nice cross country routes. Ride quality is on the firm side but still manages to soak up the bumps to produce a comfortable ride.

One of the many nice aspects of the Proceed is the fact that there are buttons and knobs instead of a plethora of touchscreen menus for every control. Not only are buttons easier they’re also safer. The rear view is not great as the stylish rear tailgate only affords a letterbox style view.

As ever with Kia the build quality is superb and it’s just a very pleasant place to be for your everyday driving chores from the daily commute to the school run.