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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  update on my previous review - 2012 Kia Optima
  By arubin - April 2 - 2:25 am

  I am now at 4300 miles on my Kia optima ex turbo and it still a great trill to drive it as it was during my first few weeks of driving the Kia.Furthermore once this car really breaks in and you totally know what to expect on your driving experience, I feel even more confidence when driving at higher speeds.Still very solid and a ride without any rattles no matter how bad the road surface might be.I could not be happier with this car and hope this experience continues.

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  The best economy car there is. - 2017 Kia Forte
  By Charles S - April 1 - 9:30 pm

  I have owned this car since brand new, today marks one year of me having it. My MPG is at least 15% higher than the mileage shown on the sticker, I get at least 40 on the highway when Im not even trying to be conservative. The car has 25k miles, and I have not had a single issue. I drove cross country with my Forte, and it excelled above any rental Ive ever driven in comfort , efficiency, and acceleration on the highway. I would highly, highly recommended the Forte. Plus, Kia gave me 3 years free routine maintenance, awesome customer service, they care that you come back.

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  4dr Kia Forte SX (5A) w/ leather - 2010 Kia Forte
  By MarquetteBBall - March 31 - 4:06 pm

  I know Im in the honeymoon period right now seeing as Ive only had the car for 3 days, but Im really impressed with my purchase. Kia definitely surprised me with the Forte. I never thought Id buy a Kia but I couldnt be happier at the moment. The SX with leather is definitely the best trim to go. I got it in Spicy Red, which comes with red stitching on the leather, heated seats. I love the auto shutoff on the headlights/fog lights. The steering wheel controls are very well planned out and the steering wheel itself looks great. The back seat and the trunk have significantly more room than other comparable compact sedans like the Focus, Corolla, and Civic.Engine has alot of peppiness to it

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  Big Car with Big MPG! - 2006 Kia Optima
  By philipthompson51 - March 31 - 3:50 am

  We tried both the v6 and the 4 cylinder, and found that the performance was almost identical due to the lighter curb weight of the 4 cylinder and only about 20 hp difference. I measured a zero to 60 time of 9 seconds, which is almost the same as the v6, but the 4 is good for a rated highway mpg of 34, and on a trip I got a full 35 mpg, and have averaged over 25 mpg average with lots of city driving.Why buy a tiny car when you can get a larger car that does equally well in mpg? I love the appearance package and the black perforated leather interior, and am glad that for 2007 they have added a couple of options that were not available on mine. This is my third Kia, and all have been great.

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  Kia Sportage KX-3 SatNav auto awd , poor fuel consumption - 2012 Kia Sportage
  By pgw2811 - March 29 - 11:56 pm

  July 2012 .. I have just returned a Kia Sportage KX-3 SatNav automatic awd 2 litre diesel after not being able to get more than 30mpg with it , driving it at 70mph and 2000 revs on a more less flat smooth road . Kia advertise 47.9 mpg extra urban with the car I had with the 18 inch wheels , obviously this figure would be at 60 mph , even at that speed I still only got a fraction over 30 mpg . With this I phoned Kia customer service and spoke to someone who said his name was J V or J G , after explaining everything , I have never had such a not interested attitude in my life after buying a £25000 vehicle . After saying , I would like to get an honest opinion please on a very poor fuel consumption that I am getting with the Kia Sportage that I have just paid £24,995 for and certainly not happy with the fuel consumption . All I got at the end was take it back to the Kia dealer ...I did that and got just the same not interested attitude , we are too busy to look at it , it will be 6 weeks before we can look at it , then send a technical report to Kia , then we maybe get the response back from them in a couple of weeks or so . With that , I had , had enough and quoted sale of goods act 1979 , that it does not do what you advertise and I want my car back that I traded in . Whether I got my car back because they had not sold it or because I quoted the sale of goods act or they were going to get more profit out of me , I don’t know which , but I was glad to get rid of that diesel guzzler . I certainly will not be buying anything with a Kia name on it again as there after sales customer interest is zero .

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  Kia Amanti - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By MarMel - March 29 - 10:00 am

  Too new to know real mileage yet. Smoothest, softest ride. Pleasure to drive. Seems to have every convenience possible. LOVE IT1!!!

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  A CAR AND A HALF - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By GUMTEM - March 29 - 10:00 am

  This vehicle is beautiful wild raging animal under control just rearing to go. It surges and turns on a dime upon command and yet, with all that horse power under the hood, purrs like a domestic kitten. For me, definately the best buy for an SUV on todays market.

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  Nothing but trouble - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By DC - March 29 - 2:46 am

  We bought our Sedona in November 2006. Since then its been in the shop 5 times. Not acceptable in a car purchased "new." First was a knocking sound when the engine was shut off, I was told it was a flap in the engine that didnt close properly? Next was a slider that stuck habitually. Then a fuse in the dash went out and my ABS malfunctioned. The brake light still doesnt shut off properly, I have to kick it, and its been in for repairs on that twice. Because its a large car assembled with the brakes of a smaller car, it wears through brakes super fast. My two year old car is on its third set of brakes. No wonder it has that warrantee, you need it. Im now looking elsewhere.

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  Amazing value in a midsize sport sedan - 2006 Kia Optima
  By Rick Sandstrom - March 28 - 1:33 pm

  I test drove Fusions, Camrys, Accords, Sonatas and this is the one that impressed me the most. It just felt good. I liked the way it handles and the interior design, materials and layout is incredible. Most room of any in its class. I have the appearance package with the great 6 CD + MP3 player. I can get 60 albums in MP3 format on 6 CDs. The performance Michelins are every thing their advertised to be and definitely add to the already great handling. If they put a larger 6 cyl in this thing it would be a monster!

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  its all good - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By its all good - March 27 - 10:00 am

  i think this car is a good little car, there is a place for the cds. what most dealers will call a tape holder is also a cd holder. some of the kias come with out a radio so u can get ur own and as far as speakers u can always change those out. overall i think its a decent car for the money ur paying and its got a nice look to it. its affordable for most and can be fun to drive (espcially with a manual!). ive driven almost 7000 mi in less than 4 months of having the car and i havent seenanything yet. and i dont have any special features.