It’s one after another for the Korean marque.
Kia is on a bit of a roll today, and its big announcements are all but sure to bring smiles to the faces of the brands’ fans across the country. They answered our calls for more power & driving fun with the Picanto GT, and now it’s time for them to address the desires of greater road presence, more poke, and a well-appointed cabin, as well as the usual ask of more power.
‘Ask and ye shall receive’ is the policy at Kia at seems because here’s the Kia Cerato GT, the new flagship model, and it’ll be offered for a limited time at $31,990 drive-away.
“Australian drivers are like few others in the word. They know what they like, and that is a rare combination of style, value and performance, which doesn’t come along that often. With the Cerato GT, they have one additional opportunity to find what they are searching for, and this time it’s wearing a badge that comes with proven value & reliability.” – Damien Meridith, Chief Operating Officer, Kia Motors Australia
The Cerato has been a key component for Kia’s success in Australia, and so they had to be doubly-sure that the Cerato GT, promising greater driver involvement and performance, did not underwhelm. As such, the company’s spent an extensive amount of time developing the suspension tune for the Cerato GT and so it wears a setup unique to our market.
Under the bonnet lies a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which offers up 150kW and 265Nm. That power goes to the front wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic which, in case you’re wondering, is indeed the same powertrain setup as found in the Hyundai i30 N-Line, another warm-hatch that we like very much.
The exterior has naturally been kitted out with a bodykit, 18-inch alloy wheels, and dual exhausts. But step inside and you’ll note the high level of standard features, like a Drive Mode Selector (replete with a ‘Sport’ mode that adjusts the gear mapping & steering), 8-way power-adjustable leather buckets seats in the front (with 2-profile memory), 8-inch infotainment screen with smartphone mirroring, Qi wireless charging, and a JBL premium 8-speaker audio system. There’s also ventilation for those front seats, and climate control.
There’s lots of safety kit in here too, all as standard fitment. You’ll find things like autonomous emergency braking, intelligent cruise control, forward collision warning, lane-keep assist, 360º parking sensors, reversing camera, blind-spot monitoring, and driver-drowsiness alert. You’ll also get rear cross-traffic alert, a major boon when reversing out of front-on parking spaces.
There is only one option available for the Cerato GT in either hatch or saloon guise, that being premium metallic paint ($520). Even sat-nav is included, though with smartphone mirroring, even we would recommend you just use Waze.
The Kia Cerato GT, in 4-door saloon & 5-door hatch bodystyles, retails at $32,990 (before on-road costs). However for a limited time, an introductory drive-away price of $31,990 is being offered, so we’d suggest that you hop to it and get you stylish new ride today.
For the best deals on a new Kia, check out our Showroom.
