The 2019 Kia Cerato has been spotted in Malaysia
again, this time by reader Muhammad Hafiy Azim Abdul Aziz in Wangsa Maju, KL. This one wears
a full camo wrap, with cutouts only for the lamps and black plastic bits. Like before,
it wears relatively small 16-inch turbine-style alloy wheels with high profile
tyres. The latest Cerato gets a more dynamic design that takes a few cues
from the Stinger sports sedan, with sweptback headlights, slim “tiger nose”
grille, a longer bonnet, sweeping glasshouse and short tail for that fastback
look. Inside, there’s a horizontal dashboard layout with the now-familiar
floating infotainment screen and round air vents at the corners.
Measuring 4,640 mm long, 1,800 mm wide and 1,440 mm
tall, the new Cerato is 80 mm longer, 20 mm wider and 5 mm taller than the car
we’re familiar with, although the 2,700 mm wheelbase remains. Kia says that the
increased dimensions improve both head and legroom, while boot capacity has
been increased from 482 to 502 litres.
The structure features an additional hot-stamped
components and 54% advanced high-strength steel content, and uses 105 metres of
structural adhesive — five times more than before. Suspension is handled by a
MacPherson strut front and torsion beam rear setup.
Should it be coming in the near future to challenge
the Honda Civic, Mazda 3 and all-new Toyota Corolla Altis (just launched in
Thailand and possibly coming soon), expect the Malaysian-spec Cerato to
carry-over the 2.0 litre Nu naturally-aspirated petrol engine with 150 hp/192
Nm, paired to a six-speed automatic. This is the same powertrain that is
offered in Australia, whereas some other markets get a revised version of the
same motor and an Intelligent Variable Transmission CVT.
