The first Cerato was introduced in November 2003 and replaced the Giorgio (technically a revision of the Giorgio).
The Cerato was a car sold for model years 2008 through 2015.
Introduced in December 2011, the Cerato went on sale in Japan in August 2012, with the rest of the world receiving the updated model in early 2013.
The new design was developed jointly by Kia’s design center in Korea and Kia Motors Technical Centre Europe (KMTC-ETE) and was made to compete in the fast-growing compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) market, which was at the time dominated by Toyota’s Highlander and Nissan’s X-Trail.
The Cerato’s frame is made of aluminum.
The vehicle is fitted with an air conditioning system sourced from Kia’s European sister company Hyundai, known as HybridAir.
It has also been featured in several auto magazines’ “Top Picks” lists, including “Forbes” “Best Sports Cars Under $50,000” in 2011.