Overview & Reviews

Kia Motors is a South Korean automaker that's relatively new to the United States. In its early years, Kia largely catered to budget-minded consumers with well-equipped vehicles priced below competing models. More recently, this growing brand has kept value a priority while also emphasizing technology and sportiness.

Founded in Korea in 1944, Kia started as a producer of steel tubing and bicycle parts. The company's name has its roots in the Chinese language, and means "to arise, to come up out of Asia." By the early 1950s, the company had produced Korea's first bicycle; by the latter part of the decade, Kia had branched out into motor scooters, with the rollout of the C100.

The 1960s saw Kia expanding its lineup to include motorcycles and three-wheeled cargo vehicles. Naturally, the next logical step was automobile production, and the company began moving in this direction in the early 1970s. By 1973, Kia had built a facility designed to make its automotive dreams a reality; its Sohari plant held the distinction of being Korea's first fully integrated automobile production facility, and went on to spawn Korea's first internal-combustion gasoline engine. A year later, Kia unveiled the Brisa, Korea's first passenger car. By the end of the decade, Kia's technology was being used to manufacture vehicles like the Peugeot 604 and the Fiat 132.

By the late '80s, Kia's lineup included new models like the Concord, Capital, Potentia and Pride. In 1987, Ford brought the Pride to U.S. shores, rebadging it as the Ford Festiva. Seven years later, Ford dealers got a replacement for the entry-level, subcompact Festiva in the form of another Kia constructed product, the Aspire.

Kia finally began selling vehicles in the U.S. under its own name in the early '90s, trumpeting its presence with the introduction of the compact Sephia. The car's rollout was gradual; in the early days of its production, the Sephia was only available in select Western states. By the mid-'90s, SUVs had emerged as a phenomenally popular and profitable vehicle segment. Kia responded with the 1995 Sportage, a compact SUV. By the end of the '90s, Kia's nationwide rollout was nearly complete.

Financial difficulties in the late '90s prevented Kia from expanding its lineup beyond those two models. Hyundai, South Korea's other major automaker, acquired the company in a merger in 1998.

Kia has been on a major upswing since its purchase by Hyundai, with improvements in build quality, performance and overall refinement. Reliability, previously a weak point, has also improved markedly and consumers' confidence was further bolstered by Kia's substantial warranty program. Today, Kia is on a dramatic upswing and offers a broad lineup of well-built coupes, sedans and crossovers that stand out for their value, performance and sporty styling.

User Reviews:

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  Performance - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By kntkyldy - February 17 - 10:00 am

  Owned my KIA 2 years. Except for standard maintenance (oil changes) Ive never had any work done.

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  I Love my 2014 Forte Hatchback!!! - 2014 Kia Forte
  By shandice - February 16 - 2:14 pm

  I had a Spectra 5 door and never thought I would enjoy another car as much as I did that one, but I was wrong. This car is awesome, lots of room for the family and lots of room in the back for shopping sprees. It is a quiet, smooth ride. Great radio and the heater warms up fast. Cant imagine ever driving anything but a Kia. You can t beat the warranty either. Ive gotten both of my Kias from Moritz Kia in Ft Worth, they have treated me so well I will always buy from them. They go above and beyond to please the customer. I wanted to test drive one of their cars but had no ride to get to them, they brought the car to me and I was an hour away.

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  TOP FEATURES, TOP VALUE!! - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By RPS - February 15 - 10:00 am

  BEST VALUE IN THE INDUSTRY!!

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  This one is well worth the money! - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By SkyRydr - February 15 - 10:00 am

  I purchased the EX without any added features. Its wonderful, fun to drive, smooth shifting, and looks great too! I did 6 months of research, drove every true 4X4 out there, (not the soccer mom cars, the wanna be 4X4 - get a grip, buy a station wagon) The Sorento is the most comfortable, best value I could find

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  Great Car - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By DSDBergeron03 - February 15 - 10:00 am

  A great car to own and drive. It drives great on the highway and on the trail. The interior is layed out nice with a lot of features, that are nice to have. I get lucky every now and then and get the keys from my wife so I can drive it. The vehicle does ride like a truck, which is fine with me.

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  fourth kia - 2010 Kia Soul
  By dan gaffen - February 14 - 6:13 pm

  The Soul is the fouth kia I have owned and all have been trouble free and well made. The Soul is a unique design inside and out. Its loaded with features you would normally pay for as an option. The ride and interior sound level is excellent. My only upgrade is the 315 watt sterio with sub woofer, lighted speakers and front center speaker, 8 total. I would highly recommend the soul to anyone looking for a mini suv.

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  Pleased with our Sedona - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By MIKE5 - February 13 - 10:00 am

  Solid, Runs Great, Its my wifes, and she loves it too, EX model,leather, sun roof, CD player etc. and still paid just over $20,000 , Great warranty, biggest complaint is gas mileage, but at least it runs on regular, when I was checking on Toyota and Honda they both had to have premium, Honda has changed that since. Could not deal with overpriced Honda also hearing more and more complaints about Odyssey anyway. Might have considered a Sienna if price was right.

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  Great Car for the Money - 2009 Kia Spectra
  By desertbob - February 12 - 8:06 pm

  No flaws... everything works as advertised. Looking forward to my first long-distance RoadTrip in this car.

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  Great Family Car With Lots of Goodies - 2012 Kia Optima
  By nomis68 - February 8 - 10:17 am

  I came to this 2012 Optima from a 2010 Mazdaspeed3. With a new son the Speed3 just wasnt doing it. This Optima is the real deal! The ride is smooth in my opinion and the handling is tight. The cabin looks great in the SX. I love the Infinity sound system, it sounds GREAT for a factory system. The iPod interface works great and the Nav. system is about as good as it gets. The panoramic sunroof is just plain cool. The heated and cooled front seats will come in real handy here in St. Louis. The backseats are almost as comfy as the front ones, back seats being heated is pretty sweet. The style of the exterior is awesome, slick lines, LED taillights, xenon headlights. This car ROCKS!

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  Best value compact sedan - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By Choon I. Lee - February 8 - 10:00 am

  This new Spectra rocks. I needed a small econmic car for commute rather than driving my Suburban everyday. I got the most for my money compared to Mazda 3, Civic, Corola, and Elantra. It cost thousands dollors less with lots of standard features like side curtain air bags. This is a very important safety feature for me because I have two kids. It handles good on the freeway and the engine is powerful enough for the size. The body design looks good and the interior offers a large passenger space.