KIA’S largest vendor in Australia, the Cerato small hatch and sedan, has arrived on native roads debuting the model’s newest company brand and bearing up to date seems to be plus a handful of specification and pricing tweaks.
The mannequin line-up stays the identical – S, Sport, Sport+ and GT, in hatch or sedan guises however in comparison with the outgoing MY21 mannequin, beneficial retail pricing for the MY22 Cerato has elevated barely – $500 for Cerato S auto, $600 for Sport and Sport+ auto, and $1100 for Cerato GT – with so value distinction between hatch and sedan physique kinds.
Kia is providing everlasting drive-away pricing throughout the vary, nonetheless, spanning Cerato S ($25,990 DA), Cerato S with Security Pack ($27,490 DA), Sport ($27,990 DA), Sport with Security Pack ($29,490 DA), Sport+ ($31,690 DA) and GT ($36,990 DA).
As uptake for handbook Ceratos was only one per cent and this transmission choice incompatible with pedestrian and bicycle owner detection for the autonomous emergency braking system, Kia Australia selected to delete it and make sure the total vary certified for 5 ANCAP stars.
Now rating third within the Australian small-car gross sales race behind the Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30 – in contrast with eleventh place in 2014 – the Cerato makeover guarantees to additional enhance its market-share penetration.
That mentioned, Kia Australia expects to keep up roughly 1500 items a month with the up to date MY22 Cerato, cut up 60:40 in favour of the hatch, with the bottom S variant accounting for round half of all quantity and the flagship GT absorbing 20 per cent.
Between January and Could this 12 months, 8045 Ceratos have been offered in contrast with 10,808 items of the i30 and 11,644 Corollas. The Mazda3 sits in fourth place with 6554 items.
Kia Australia says the Cerato’s gross sales combine between personal and fleet patrons is weighted towards personal at 66 p.c.
Essentially the most substantial Cerato styling modifications have been utilized to the entrance finish with new headlights – that includes distinctive ‘dotted-line’ LED daytime operating lights – that move right into a razor-blade-like grille, whereas the GT will get LED headlights.
All variants get new bumpers, the GT going one step additional with purple detailing in its grille and the decrease air consumption outlining new diagonal LED foglights. Hidden exhausts on sub-GT fashions are changed with twin tailpipes on the GT and, on the sedan, new tail-lights mirror the two-layer impact of the DRLs.
New brand apart, hatches have equivalent rear-end styling to their MY21 predecessor. The 16-inch wheel trim designs on S variants are carried over from MY21, as are the 18-inch alloys on the GT.
Sport and Sport+ fashions put on new multi-spoke 17-inch alloys (with 225/45R17 Kumho Ecsta tyres) whereas all sedan fashions characteristic a reprofiled bootlid form.
Inside-wise, the primary change is to multimedia. The bottom S will get an 8.0-inch touchscreen with wi-fi Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and three USB ports, whereas the remainder of the vary scores a bigger 10.25-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, sat-nav, digital radio, rear-seat sleep mode and 10-year MapCare and Suna live-traffic updates.
The GT uniquely gives wi-fi telephone charging, eight-speaker JBL premium sound, heated/ventilated entrance seats, an eight-way electrical driver’s seat with two-position reminiscence, and a brand new electrical sunroof.
Sport+ beneficial properties heated entrance seats whereas all fashions now characteristic rear-seat air vents and rear occupant alert.
When it comes to security gear, Cerato S now options lane-follow help, driver consideration alert with main automobile departure alert, auto high-beam, and safe-exit warning.
An optionally available $1000 Security Pack for Cerato S and Sport provides bicycle owner detection for the AEB system, an digital park brake, bigger rear disc brakes (284mm stable discs as an alternative of 262mm), adaptive cruise management, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, electrical folding mirrors, and on the S (as a result of they’re already commonplace on Cerato Sport), a leather-based steering wheel and kit knob.
Sport+ and GT fashions characteristic new blind-spot collision avoidance help, and rear AEB (at the side of rear cross-traffic alert).
Guide deletion apart, drivetrains are carry-over. The long-lived ‘Nu’ 112kW/192Nm 2.0-litre multi-point-injected four-cylinder petrol with six-speed computerized is utilized in S, Sport and Sport+, and the ‘Gamma II’ 150kW/265Nm 1.6-litre direct-injection turbo with seven-speed dual-clutch auto in GT fashions.
The Cerato GT has additionally had its suspension tweaked for “an improved secondary city experience”, although pandemic-related restrictions prevented any modifications to spring charges. The only real alteration is to damping tune – softer compression and rebound charges within the rear, and softer compression within the entrance.
2021 Kia Cerato driveaway pricing*
| S (a) | $25,990 |
| Sport (a) | $27,990 |
| Sport+ (a) | $31,690 |
| GT (a) | $36,990 |
*Pricing similar for hatch and sedan
