Reasonably priced Kia is a Stig decision for Top Gear

TOP Gear's reasonably priced car is now a reasonably priced Kia, after the producers of the hit BBC show switched their celebrity racer for the start of the latest series.

Anyone who watched Clarkson, Hammond and May in their latest TV adventures on BBC Two last Sunday will have seen them switching their affections to the Kia Cee'd , something the car's makers are keen to promote despite the presenters making mischevious comments about their models in previous shows.

“The last time Top Gear paid us any attention I think they tried to build one of our cars out of washing machines – so this is quite a step forward in their understanding of just how Kia has changed over the last six years,” said Stephen Kitson, Communications Director of Kia Motors UK.

“The Cee’d has become a strong player in the mid-sized family car market and just this year J. D. Power named it best small-medium car in their annual quality survey – so it should stand up well to anything the star guests can throw at it.

The C'eed, which has already been raced around the track by celebrities including Bill Bailey, TV dragon Peter Jones and BBC political editor Nick Robinson, is on sale now at a very reasonable £13,930.