There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the arrival of the Kia Proceed, and new spy shots of the sporty GT model has given rise to more speculation that the five-door fastback model is getting closer to its launch date. Kia hasn’t confirmed when that’s going to be, but all signs point to the 2018 Paris Motor Show in October. If that ends up being the case, these spy photos of the five-door Proceed are arriving at just the right time.

Exterior

Give Kia credit for this one bit. It did a good job covering most of the important bits of the Proceed. The front section, doors, and rear section are all heavily covered. The good news is that we can still piece together a few bits and pieces, including the inclusion of Kia’s trademark front grille that also happens to carry a “GT” badge on it. We can also see the LED headlamps, which seem to be of the same style as the regular Ceed. No surprises on that end. Side air intakes on the bumper are also visible, as are those huge alloy wheels and red brake calipers. The latter two items don’t explicitly hint at anything, but history has shown that anytime you have large wheels with red brake calipers behind them, you’re looking at a car with serious sporting credentials.

The overall shape of the Proceed adds credence to its fastback profile as the sweeping roof extends all the way to the rear section. We can make out a few good bits at the back, including the larger-than-usual taillights that may or may not carry the same end-to-end look that almost every new car in the market has. A pair of exhaust tips sit on opposite ends of the sedan, and they’re pretty big in size compared to what our expectations were.

It’s important to remember that the five-door Kia Proceed that we’re seeing here is a by-product of the favorable reaction received by the Proceed Concept when it was unveiled at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. It’s hard to say at this point if the production model is going to rely heavily on the concept’s design, but based on what we can see now, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find out that it is.

Interior

The interior of the Proceed is less clear because we don’t actually have any good looks at it. The spy photos didn’t reveal anything, either, so, at best, we can go by the concept’s interior design, which isn’t much help at all, either. Unless you’re thinking that the Proceed GT will feature some kind of 50’s-inspired, retro-styled cabin like how the concept was presented, then all the speculation about how the cabin looks is fair game.

For my money, I don’t think Kia’s taking a whole lot from the concept’s interior. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because the Proceed concept’s cabin, as bold and evocative as it looks, isn’t cut along the same lines as anything you’d expect from a Kia production car. Would you really be sold on an instrument cluster that changes color depending on the driving mode? How about a carbon fiber spine that runs the full length of the interior through the front seats? It’s a nice touch, sure, but it’s not exactly what you’d expect from Kia.

If anything, the interior of the production Proceed should be tamer and a lot more nuanced than the concept version. How that translates is up to Kia, but I imagine all the proper elements being in their proper places. I imagine a big display unit in the middle, too, and some plush materials to help accentuate and highlight the fastback sedan’s luxury image.

Drivetrain

Arguably the most important detail about the new Proceed GT will be its engine and the corresponding amount of power it’s going to have at its disposal. From what we’ve gathered, Kia has already said that the Proceed GT will have 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo engine that delivers somewhere in the region of 200 horsepower. It could still change as development of the production model continues, but it’s unlikely that we’re going to see a hotter version with significantly more power get released.

While the optics of it makes sense for Kia, especially if the model becomes a hot-ticket item, turning in more power for the fastback sedan could put it too close to the Stinger. The latter is expected to have base models that have a 2.0-liter engine with 255 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. If that’s going to be the case, it would be hard for Kia to justify putting more than 200 horsepower on the Proceed GT because it could step on the Stinger’s toes.

Less powerful versions, on the other hand, are still fair game. On that end, gasoline and diesel engines displacing 1.0 and 1.4 liters could be made available, but for lower-spec versions of the Ceed family.

Prices

It’s still anyone’s guess how much Kia’s going to ask for the fastback Proceed GT, but based on the three-door hatchback’s price, don’t expect it to come cheap. As it is, the Proceed GT hatchback already starts at £19,995. That converts to around $26,000 based on current exchange rates. By virtue of the fastback version being bigger and supposedly more powerful, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Korean automaker starts pricing at £23,000, or just a little over $30,000 based on current exchange rates.

Competition

Opel Insignia GSI Sports Tourer

The Opel Insignia GSI Sports Tourer is a legitimate competitor to the Kia Proceed GT. The Insignia comes with a sharp and aggressive design. It has a well-appointed interior, and space isn’t lacking in this section, either. At the heart of this model are two different engine options, one of which is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel unit that produces 210 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque. That’s good enough to help the Insignia sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 7.9 seconds before peaking at a top speed of 144 mph. If you’re not into the diesels anymore — we can’t blame you — you can opt for a similarly sized gas engine that puts down 260 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. This version is faster to 60 mph than its diesel counterpart, doing so in just 7.5 seconds. It also clocks in a faster top speed at 152 mph. Pricing for the Opel Insignia GSI Sports Tourer sits at around 28,000 euros, which converts to a little over $31,000.

Read our full review on the 2018 Opel Insignia GSI Sports Tourer

Volkswagen Passat Estate

If the Kia Proceed GT fastback is going to be taken seriously, it needs to line up well against the Volkswagen Passat Estate. Like most cars in this segment, the Passat Estate comes out with a good amount of proper design cues. It also features a good amount of equipment and a lot of equity as a long-standing member of the segment. Most importantly, the Passat Estate comes with a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that spits out an impressive 236 horsepower, all of which can be played around with courtesy of a 4Motion AWD system. All told, the Passat Estate is capable of sprinting from 0 to 62 mph in 6.3 seconds.

Read our full review on the 2018 Volkswagen Passat Estate

Conclusion

There's a lot to like about the fastback Kia Proceed GT. Granted, the spy shots don't reveal much, but I expect it to be a looker in the same vein the Proceed GT Concept was when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show late last year. I am curious, though, how Kia is going to develop the car's interior because there are plenty of elements that make for a good cabin with cars of this size. I'm not high on the likelihood of the model getting just one engine option, but that could still change in the future. Overall, the fastback Proceed GT is an intriguing model, to say the least

References

Read our full review on the 2017 Kia Proceed Concept.

Read our full review on the 2018 Kia Ceed.

Read more Kia news.