Believe it or not, this really is cause for celebration and not just for KIA Motors or the people at their European plant in Slovakia.

The Cee’d, love it or hate, was really a breakthrough model for KIA back in 2006. It was their first ever car designed and manufactured in Europe and in a way, earned them a lot of respect from rival manufacturers.

Remember all those years ago how the cee’d would actually come out on top in so many comparison tests against the previous generation Ford Focus, the Golf 5, the Megane II, Peugeot 307 and so on?

It wasn’t necessarily because it was a better car, but simply because of the excellent value it brought, its looks, its equipment levels and its way above average driving dynamics. People were all over it, plus it had that 7 year warranty (which turned out to be a brilliant idea) and even its slow as a snail 1.4 petrol model ended up being a massive hit.

It was a good car. No, a great car for its segment – and a great leap forward for KIA, which is why we’re happy to report on them reaching the 7 figure mark with their one millionth model.

Even today the cee’d remains KIA’s 2nd best-selling model in Europe behind the attractive Sportage SUV, and between 2006 and 2012, KIA manufactured no fewer than 646,305 first gen cee’d models.

Artur Martins, KIA’s Marketing VP was also feel proud saying that the cee’d “has helped establish Kia in Europe as a maker of high-quality, well-designed cars, and it has been one of the key drivers behind our continued growth and success in the region. I’d like to congratulate all my colleagues at Kia Motors Slovakia on this latest milestone, and thank the million customers who have made the cee’d such a popular model.”

Later this year KIA is rolling out the GT Line spec models which as they say, “blend the style and sportiness of the cee’d GT and pro_cee’d GT with the versatility of the conventional cee’d model line-up”.

Apart from the GT Line, European markets will also get to see the all-new 1.0 liter T-GDI (turbo gasoline direct injection) engine and a new 7-speed DSG transmission – which is why we expect the cee’d to stay competitive in what is still a very hard-fought segment.

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