Kia unveils new cee'd

Our Reasonably Priced Car is being revamped. Whereas some carmakers give their models seven-year shelf lives, Kia prefers to wait just five. So this isn't some redressed version of the current cee'd, it's completely new, sharing a platform with the also-new and utterly decent Hyundai i30. 

Unlike most of this week's other new metal, this one's not actually at Detroit but bound for the Geneva motor show in March. So the only picture we can show you is the one they sent us, of the five-door model, due to go on sale in Britain in June. An estate version will arrive in September, followed by the more exciting pro_cee'd (that's the three-door, coupe-ish one) sometime in early 2013.

Details are a little thin, but it's obvious that Peter Schreyer - Kia's head crayonist and a TG Man of the Year - has been enjoying himself again. It's sharper and more defined than the last car, especially around the nose, lending a more grown up feel to rival the similarly mature Astra and Focus.

Expect the usual array of Kia engines - they aren't whispering about electric or hybrid just yet - possibly including the 85g/km 1.1-litre CRDi as seen in the new Rio. It's the cleanest diesel in the world.

We wonder what Tom Cruise and his friend would make of that?