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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  Just plain fun to drive - 2012 Kia Sportage
  By bearow - September 11 - 7:41 pm

  It is just "plain fun" to drive my 2012 Kia Sportage. Ive had it for about 2 months and have enjoyed everything about it, including the gas mileage (avg = 26, interstate = 29). I will always love and keep my GMC Z71 for the heavy work, but at 13 mpg it had to move over for the Sportage for day-to-day driving. I like the way the Sportage holds the road, feels "in-control" & a little sporty. Ive tried the all-wheel-drive out on our Florida beach sand and it performed well (I dont recommend going 4-wheeling in the mud, but you can take it off the Hwy for normal activities without worry of getting stuck). Great value for the dollar - its a solid & fun ride!

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  Kia Soul u gotta luv it - 2010 Kia Soul
  By onelegsoul - September 11 - 4:10 pm

  Just bought my Soul Sport Black (Shadow) with the sun roof. I luv the car and everything it comes with. The bluetooth is just great and the sound system rocks. You must remember the price of this car (I paid 18,900) and everything that you get, what a deal. It rides great and I have no problems with it.

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  Love my Soul - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Sara - September 10 - 5:23 pm

  I love my "Little Big" Soul. It looks small but has great room inside. I love the fact it is "different" looking than most cars on the road. Handles great.

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  Love my little car! - 2013 Kia Rio
  By Jimmie - September 9 - 10:08 pm

  I bought this car with 6 miles on it and commute 80 miles per day. Almost 4 years and 78k later, I am still in love. The only dislikes naturally go along with the Kia brand...road noise. Once you get past that, this car drives like a much more expensive one (as long as you dont think you need to accelerate like a race car driver) and is a great buy. I get an average of 36-38+ with a combination of highway/city miles AND adding the spare time (most new vehs removed this so increase gas mileage - it doesnt have a big enough impact to be without it on this model!) Only normal maintenance has been performed and I run conventional oil in it....looking forward to seeing how many miles I can get out of my little girl!

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  Exceeded Expectation- Everything Well Thought Out. - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By Bryan Banks - September 9 - 4:17 pm

  I have owned 65 + vehicles- luxury to economy cars, high performance cars, SUVs, and Minivans. The Sorento has gotten more things just right than any vehicle I have ever owned. The push button start works perfectly, headlights give you the right options, controls layout is excellent, the ride/handling balance is very good and the engine and transmission perform flawlessly in sync. The engineering to get the amount of space and passenger capacity in a vehicle only 187 in. in length is a real accomplishment. Most other competition is 7 to 10 in. greater in vehicle length. With this space efficiency, comes weight savings and the strong V6, so it has good performance for a vehicle in this class. We got 24.7 mpg on highway trip. At this point of 2,500 miles, we could not be happier with our decision.

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  CMB-Review - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By Khodam - September 9 - 10:00 am

  The car handles much better than the Honda CRV and the Hyundai and the Toyota RAV4 and is not sluggish at all. If only the fuel efficiency could be improved (i.e. technologiclally possible) then it would be really the best car for the buck. It has many amenities that are options on other similar category cars.

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  The Amanti turn heads - 2005 Kia Amanti
  By djoyceh - September 7 - 10:33 pm

  The Amanti is a fun car to drive. It has all the quality and features of sedans costing thousands more. We have had people approach us in parking lots with compliments. It will turn heads as we drive by. Its great! You cant beat the 10 years or 100,000 mile warranty either.

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  2007 Amanti Best Luxury bargain in US - 2007 Kia Amanti
  By MikeWellsEsq - September 6 - 4:03 pm

  I purchased a pewter beige Amanti with leather package (tan interior), ESC/safety package, 17 in. wheels and sunroof. After seeing an article online about the Amantis redesign for 2007, test driving one was a relevation. I seriously shopped the Amanti vs. the Azera and a couple of other nice sedans, and the Amanti won. This car is an amazing value. I am continually being blown away by the quality and features. The quick power and smoothness of the ride are truly a delight. Id say this car, for 2007, is the biggest hidden secret on the U.S. market, since Kia is not doing any advertising that I can see.

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  Love It - 2007 Kia Sportage
  By Mike J. - September 6 - 2:10 am

  The ride is very smooth and the Sportage handles well. Im actually getting better gas milage than what the sticker said I would.

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  A lot of car for the money - 2003 Kia Optima
  By Sewwolf - September 4 - 10:00 am

  so far after 3 weeks of ownership there isnt anything I dont like about this car. This is how the big three should learn how to make cars. We looked at a lot of cars in this class and nothing could compare to the Kias for price and warranty.