• No engine is particularly thirsty
• Diesel is most frugal
• Kia servicing and maintenance low-cost

What are the running costs?

If fuel and running costs are your main concern then you should look no further than the 1.6-litre diesel model. It returns official fuel consumption of 56.5mpg, or 54.3mpg with the dual-clutch automatic. With that being said, the 1.4-litre petrol doesn’t perform too poorly either – posting combined figures of 45.6mpg and 44.8mpg respectively.

Generally, the petrol will be the best choice for those who drive mainly in town or do a majority of shorter journeys – the diesel won’t warm up and provide maximum economy unless it’s given a decent run.

The 1.6-litre petrol in the GT offers the highest performance, but also the highest fuel consumption – a combined figure of 39.3mpg. That’s actually not too poor a figure for a car of this nature, and so it should return some fairly good numbers if driven carefully.

Carbon dioxide levels mirror the fuel economy, with the diesel being the lowest and the GT petrol being the highest. No model is impressively low, however – the diesel manual produces 132g/km, nowhere near the sub 100g/km you’d get from a similarly powerful Ford Focus 1.5-litre diesel estate. That means the Proceed won’t necessarily be the best choice for a company car.

Reliability

• Kia’s reputation is excellent
• Seven-year warranty one of the longest around
• Proceed feels built to last

All Kias come with a seven-year, 100,000 mile warranty, which is one of (if not the) the longest in the business and sends a clear message that the South Korean brand expects its vehicles to be trouble-free. That claim would seem to hold water, as Kia drivers generally report that they’re happy with their vehicles and don’t appear to suffer from poor reliability.

The ProCeed certainly feels as though it’s been built to last, with hardwearing materials and excellent quality throughout the interior and exterior.