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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  Excellent - 2006 Kia Rio
  By white - April 28 - 10:03 pm

  I enjoy driving my Rio 5. It handles so well and the comfort is like a big SUV. I am truly glad that I made this purchase. Would definitely recommend to others. Only dislike is no cruise control.

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  summer of sommer - 2016 Kia Optima
  By ray wilson - April 28 - 6:30 am

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  VERY Glitchy Electronics, very good Driving - 2008 Kia Sedona
  By Kris S..... - April 27 - 12:25 pm

  Headlights keep blowing due to faulty connectors to bulbs, power doors open/wont open randomly, 2-driver auto seat controls are a fantastic idea with horribly failed execution. Im tall and the car randomly squishes me up to my short wifes positions and I have to readjust EVERY part of seat position and mirror settings. Memory seat setting buttons forget the settings. CD player died (after 8 years). All that said, the driving experience is great, good power and road feel for a vehicle this size. Seats (esp 6-way power drivers) are very comfortable. Easily carries 2 bikes and gear to races w 4 people. Crams in 4 bikes and people with more bike dissasembly. Goes fine in snow w good tires. Great veh for long family trips or short hauls w lots of stuff. NO problems at all with the OEM sunroof. A/C and heat are both really good. Love the heated seats. At 116k miles now my mechanic says it needs a new steering rack (leaking) and power steering pump (killed by leaking steering rack.) Over $2,000 repair bill. Yikes. I dont recall the price we paid, but do remember we saved thousands over Honda and Toyota competing versions.

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  Way to go Kia - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Sorento user/andre - April 25 - 10:00 am

  This is my first purchase of an SUV and my first purchase of a South Korean product and lets just say Im very impress with the product so far.I look at products from Ford,Nissan and Honda and when I look at Kia, I was very suprise how well the product was put together.

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  whats not to like - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By akw - April 22 - 2:00 am

  We have just over 1800 miles on our EX and it has never been in the shop. Regular oil changes and by-hand washes is all it has needed. The low end torque is great. The weight, which hurts the gas mileage sure helps it hold the road well. This is one solid, inexpensive hauler. And, those who get a ride in it praise the leather and other conveniences.

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  This is really just an update - 2012 Kia Rio
  By talanj - April 21 - 10:55 am

  Ive have a 2012 sedan and I was getting around 32 mpg. Ive now got about 12k miles on the car in 6 months. Ive had 1 minor issue. At about 11.5k mile the CE light came on. I took it to the dealer and they said it needed a software update. That did fix the CE. Ive gone through a couple tanks of gas since and It does seem that my MPG is up a few miles per gallon. All and all its a nice little car, looks good and cruises along pretty good.

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  Best Value - 2007 Kia Rondo
  By wsoxman - April 21 - 9:13 am

  I must be the only Rondo owner that has a completely loaded car. Leather, spoiler, I have everything on it including the grown effects, that make the car look much more sporty. $20,800 out the door price. The car has taken 3 2000 mile trips to Arizona. Its the most comfortable riding for long distances. My BMW seats are not as comfortable as the Rondos. The MPG and gas tank size are could be better. The optional Infinite radio upgrade wasnt worth the price.

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  Almost Perfect - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Shadow Racer - April 20 - 9:53 pm

  I bought my wife the Shadow Soul+ Auto w/ upgraded audio. Enjoyed the ride in the + over the sport, still a bit rough, but very responsive and she loves it. Dealer lied to us and said a statewide inventory search found only 1 Alien Green Soul+ in the state and it was a 5 speed. We found 7 exact matches at one dealership today. Two days after we bought this car I was rear ended in my Impala and my car was totaled. I am highly considering picking up the Ghost SE!

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  Cute car, but looks arent everything - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By Dreamn34 - April 17 - 10:00 am

  I bought my Kia a year ago.It started making a horrible noise whenever it idled or ran below 30mph so I took it in to get looked at. They installed a new A/C compressor and clutch. Thank God I had a warranty because it was over $1400 worth of parts, which cost me zero. Last May I paid around $17,500. Since then Ive moved 35 miles from from work so Im looking for something that gets better gas mileage. Im currently filling up about every third day. We went to the Honda dealership and when they appraised my Kia, they came back with $5000! I took it to CarMax and got an offer of $7800, which is better, but its still not going to help when I owe $11,500.

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  A dream .... - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By bfrazer05 - April 14 - 4:46 am

  Bought this to save a little money on gas and for the warranty as I put 20k on a car a year. I love it; most surprised by Kias awesome features, especially for the low low price. Im sure I will be purchasing another Kia product in the future.