• Lots of space up front
• Plenty of clever storage bins
• Smaller boot than the Niro

How much space is there?

There’s loads of room for front seat passengers, but you might be better off with one of the other Ceed variants if you need a lot of space in the back. The XCeed isn’t exactly cramped, but there’s less headroom than you get in the standard Ceed hatchback thanks to that sloping roofline. Legroom is also at a premium if you’re sitting behind a taller driver.

The optional panoramic sunroof is great. It allows loads of light to flood into the cabin, but it does rob a little more headroom from those in the back. But we’re almost inclined to tell you to live with it because it’s way better than the standard car’s black headlining, which makes the XCeed’s interior feel more cramped than it is.

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Boot space and storage

The petrol-powered Kia XCeed has a 426-litre boot. That’s 31 litres more than the standard Ceed hatchback, but 25 litres less than you get in the latest Niro. Crucially, the XCeed has more space in the back than rivals like the Toyota C-HR and Mercedes GLA. The Volkswagen T-Roc’s boot is slightly more spacious at 445 litres.

Fold the XCeed’s rear bench flat and there’s 1,378 litres of space on offer. The seats also fold in a 40:20:40 split, which means you can carry both cargo and passengers if you need to. However, there is quite a large load lip and the backrests don’t fold completely flat, which means it’s difficult to transport heavy items. Just pay for home delivery for your new fridge.

The XCeed’s interior is quite well laid-out otherwise with a good range of cubbies. There’s a sunglasses holder next to the rear-view mirror and an enormous storage bin between the front seats. The only problem we found was the smartphone tray in the centre console, which isn’t quite wide enough to accept a large phone when it’s wired into the dashboard.

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Is it easy to park?

It’s no harder to park than any other C-segment crossover. Rear visibility isn’t great because the rear window is small and the C-pillars are wide – but Kia gets around that by fitting parking sensors and a reversing camera. Buyers can also have a rear cross-traffic collision avoidance system, which monitors the space behind the car for passing traffic and pedestrians.

If the system detects vehicle approaching, it’ll sound a chime to warn to driver. If the driver doesn’t react, the safety tech will slam on the anchors to prevent an accident. Also, if you don’t want to bother with parking at all, you can specify your XCeed with Smart Parking Assist, which can steer the car into spaces with minimal help from the driver.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating (depending on trim)
• Lots of driver assistance technology on offer
• Two Isofix points on the rear bench

Euro NCAP hasn’t yet crash tested the Kia XCeed, but the standard Ceed hatchback on which its based received a four-star safety rating in 2019. However, cars fitted with Kia’s optional safety pack gained a full five-star rating – and both these certifications are valid for the XCeed crossover.

Kia hasn’t released UK specifications for the XCeed, but we expect the facelift won’t increase the amount of standard technology on the car. That means entry-level “2” spec cars will have a four-star safety rating, while the more expensive GT-Line model should have a five-star rating as it’ll come with features like adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring and traffic sign recognition.

The Euro NCAP boffins seemed pleased with the Ceed’s overall performance, noting how stable the cabin remained during the front impact test and praising how well the car protected the driver’s and passenger’s knees. The Ceed does a good job of protecting child occupants, too. The dummies were pulled from the wreckage with hardly a mark on them. You can read the full report here.

Watch the Kia Ceed crash test video here