It appears that the dormant C-segment sedan market is getting a bit of a shakeup this year – the new Honda Civic was introduced in June, and the Toyota Corolla Altis should be due for an update soon. Now, Kia appears to be joining the party with the facelifted Kia Cerato, which has appeared in showrooms.
The Cerato has always been seen as a budget alternative to the two Japanese heavyweights, but sales advisors have mentioned that the refreshed model could see a slight price hike across the three 1.6 KX, 1.6 and 2.0 litre variants. The current models are priced at RM91,888, RM101,888 and RM119,888 respectively, on-the-road with insurance.
Exterior revisions include a broader, slimmer “tiger nose” grille that’s mounted lower, while the headlights have also been made wider and sleeker, with slimmer eyebrow LED daytime running lights. Lower down, the air intakes and fog lights have been streamlined, and BMW-esque air curtain intakes as seen on the new Optima also make an appearance here.
At the rear, there are redesigned tail light graphics for both bulb-type (1.6 KX) and LED (1.6 and 2.0) units, with the indicators and reverse lights that sit on the bottom edge instead of on top; there’s also a new, simpler black rear apron design. A new two-tone design for the 17-inch alloy wheels completes the aesthetic.
Few changes are apparent inside, with revised instrument cluster display graphics, redesigned switchgear, new faux carbon fibre pattern around the air vents and a smattering of chrome and gloss black highlights being the only discernible updates. There’s no flat-bottomed steering wheel here, unlike in some markets.
Kit count looks to remain largely similar, with all models getting the aforementioned 17-inch wheels, keyless entry, push-button start, auto headlights, cruise control, rear air-con vents, Flex Steer adjustable weight for the steering, front and rear parking sensors, an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with navigation and a reverse camera.
The 1.6 adds on LED tail lights, dual-zone automatic climate control with cluster ioniser, aluminium pedals, electric seats with memory, gear shift paddles, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, leather-wrapped steering wheel and soft touch upper door trims.
Meanwhile, the range-topping 2.0 receives a rear spoiler, sunroof, a Supervision colour multi-info display and leather seats – now with heating and ventilation on the front passenger seat, instead of just the driver’s side. The auto-levelling xenon headlights appear to have been removed from the list of kit – the manual headlight level adjustor is seen even on the 2.0.
Safety-wise, it’s the same as before – the 1.6 KX still comes with only two airbags and no stability control; you’ll have to stump up for the 1.6 model to gain six airbags and stability control. That’s a shame, considering that the Civic has them throughout the range, although the Cerato should still undercut the Honda considerably, spec-for-spec.
For now, it’s unclear what engines power the new Cerato, but expect it to soldier on with the current car’s 130 PS/157 Nm 1.6 litre Gamma II and 161 PS/194 Nm 2.0 litre Nu MPI four-cylinder engines, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
GALLERY: Kia Cerato 2.0 facelift
GALLERY: Kia Cerato 1.6 facelift
GALLERY: Kia Cerato 1.6 KX facelift
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Only 91k is worth to buy, anything >100k better buy Civic10
the secret to buying Korean cars is buying 2nd hand. Just wait after 1 year, go to any used car dealership and you can buy this Kia for RM50k.
Don’t believe me? Go and browse mudah and see yourself. But just don’t see, go and nego also. People will put hiked up ads but when you go and bargain personally, it is amazing what good deals you get on Koren cars. I just bought a 1 year old Tucson for RM65k. New car RM130k.
New Facelift Tucson?
High spec for 2015 car?
VW Jetta > all
Rm88,888 jetta > all
When you love breaking down so much that you’d pay 88grand for it.
No more full LED rear lamp
Crazy…i dont see how this is budget alternative than japanese when it’s priced over 100k…this kia worth 80k at most only…any sane buyer would choose other more better car
Dont be stupid bro, what is offered in the overpriced overheating civic compared to this? Compare spec to spec and then U will see which is more worth it.
Buyer in My compare brand, not spec. That is why Vios so laku.
@OPM…Really? Now Kia models designed by Peter Schreyer and car performance fine tune by Albert Biermann. U need to do more research before comment. It makes u look clueless
What brand is this??
How many is there on the road??
I think there are more Great Wall Haval on the road than this!!
Piece of crap. This car is same standard as Proton and Perodua. In fact, Perodua is better than this crap. My goodness we are in 2016 now and look at that dashboard. Looks like it came from a car in the 90s. Ugly as hell
Which stupid perodua is better than this and why. I can’t believe these kind of comments make it here.
Cheap Plastic nvm but the design make it looks even cheaper, and very ugly too.
Thanks to Proton creator who mess up the Malaysia automotive industry, Malaysians have to pay an additional RM40k to drive home this beauty.
are those headlights or boomerangs
already looks outdated even facelift…
Not much different compared to the current K3. I was expecting more innovative look and more tech-features.
Its quite dumb that people can compare this car to the other Sushi brands which has far less kit/safety features/looks by miles.
So expensive . No RV. Why buy??
Omg… How can this car be priced at 119k whrn the civic would be FAR superior at that range?… Crazy pricing!
Even the Toyota Vios has got VSC in all variants!
The Kia Forte that the Cerato replaces used to start at RM70k+ only. About RM90k+ for a 2.0L. That is call value. This Cerato is called ridiculous pricing.
Because of Proton
Try to tell that in Thai
Do you understand his comment? The Kia Forte that the Cerato replaces used to start at RM70k+ only. About RM90k+ for a 2.0L…. It is because of Proton? Seems like because of greedy Naza.
I never knew Forte’s entry to MY preceded P1’s creation.
Oh my god, that interior looks terrible. Fake carbon? And awful, uninspired, outdated looking design. Haven’t seen anything this bad in a long, long time.
Wow, they manage to make it uglier
still the same looks after all. boring…
Its funny the pre facelift looks much better than the facelift version.
Let me start with the tail lights of the preface lift which still remains one of the most catching tail lights out there (dont count supercars la) even its launched more than 4 yrs ago.
Then the rim, the pre FL is so much nicer than this FL version.
Interior wise, there isn’t much changes…
If i’m looking for a Cerato, I would definitely go for a pre FL all things considered.
-Faiz Roslan CEng
Kia Malaysia, I think it’s time to re-brand yourself and bring in something funky like the Soul EV and Niro. You have lost this segment to others. No point scrapping through. Bring in the EV and Niro while maintain the Sorento and Sportage.
the price should be:
KX – RM78K
K3 – RM85K
k3 2.0 – RM98K
Anything more than that, just top up and go for the civic. in fact mazda 3 is also better buy than this.
On mudah…
K3 1.6 – RM106,888 !!!
Haha ,close shop.
Who wants to buy this korean junk?
Naza shot themselves in the foot by pricing this K3 RM20,000 more than the outgoing Forte. No surprise why K3 is not selling well vs Forte. At this rate, Kia will bungkus soon.