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:

• 

  Follow-up - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By skiboji - March 17 - 5:54 pm

  I currently have 45,000 miles on the Sorento and interior plastic is starting to crack in the door panels. The car is more hesitant in acceleration than it was previously and the original Kuhmo tires are by far the worse tires that I have ever driven in snow. The summer performance tires that I have had on rear wheel drive cars got around better than this awd vehicle. Got new Michelins this winter, but no snow to test them yet.

• 

  A good car, but not a great one - 2011 Kia Forte
  By forte5 - March 11 - 6:14 pm

  I have had my Forte 5 SX with manual for about 29k miles. It has been completely reliable. I find it spacious, get 30mpg with suburban driving, its very quick, and the controls are easy to use. Negatives are a rough around town ride that smooths out on the highway, it can be noisy on rough road surfaces, the throttle it too light and aggressive - making it hard to drive smoothly.

• 

  Good deal, great car, terrible mileage - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By skk5635 - March 5 - 11:20 am

  Mileage on highway on my last trip was 24 mpg! OUCH. Everything else about the care I love.

• 

  Fun, but lacking - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Myfurf - March 2 - 10:23 am

  My Sport is a fun vehicle to drive , but is gutless in the engine. The shifter is tricky at best. It is nice that it is fully loaded with options, but lacking in functional necessities. Under the hood, the engine cover is not there along with an insulation blanket on the hood and hood struts. Did they want the engine to be noisy on purpose? There is only a hold-open rod for the hood, mounted on the hood. The mood lighting in the speakers is a fun novelty, when they work. It seems that buyers in Canada get much more options for the buck that are not available on U.S. models, as well as different names for the variants.

• 

  The car has a perfect power/weight ratio - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By kia_owner - February 28 - 10:00 am

  This car is great for a daily driver and its power to weight ratio is great and its not that expensive! I drive one and its a great zippy little car with a 5 speed have not driven an automatic one. It comes with the 10/100,000 powertrain warranty because its hyundais brother and it doesnt seem to stress the engine at all bringin the rpms to the 7000 range which is nice the transmission seems to be great I think you did a good job on this Kia

• 

  Had this as a rental for one month - 2008 Kia Sorento
  By Joe - February 26 - 11:30 am

  This SUV is quick. It revs high and will throw you back in your seat when you get on the gas. The ride is very smooth even over bumpy brick roads Ive been on. I took in on a 200+ mile road trip and was very comfortable. The stock stereo system isnt bad and would be adequate for most people. Its really a sharp looking SUV, the inside isnt Lexus or Mercedes fancy, but if youre not trying to impress everyone with your fancy car, then who cares? Ive carried up to 8 people in this thing, of course, two were in the seatless trunk area. Seats fold down real nice to make a ton of cargo room. Definitely a good family hauler, would be great for long roadies or just tooling around town.

• 

  i love my kia - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By lisa steinbach - February 22 - 10:00 am

  i love driving my kia. i had a buick centry before and this is so much more fun to drive and easier. i feel like im in a sports car.

• 

  Kia Soul Exclaim - 2012 Kia Soul
  By belleairbear - February 20 - 12:03 pm

  I just got a Red Exclaim with the Navigation System. It does have voice controls for navigation and phone and Radio. It does not have HD Radio. If you are 6ft 3in+ your foot will get very tired for any trips, because the seat will not go back enough.

• 

  Life saver - 2003 Kia Optima
  By tpp16 - February 20 - 10:00 am

  My Kia was my first car after turning 16. I liked he car a lot and it was very practical as a first car. The thing I will remember most is that this car saved my life. I totaled it through a light pole and into the trees at about 70 mph. I made out without a scratch because of the incredible safety of this car. I had heard that Kias has low crash test ratings but this car proved them wrong by saving my life.

• 

  Is that a Lexus? - 2008 Kia Optima
  By Paul Wernich - February 16 - 8:56 pm

  Several people have mistaken my black Optima for a Lexus and they are surprised to learn it is a $14,000 KIA. The car looks beautiful with its chrome trim and elegant lines. The interior is tasteful and stylish, although the seat fabric looks a little sub par compared to everything else. Lots of little extras make the car appear upscale including extended sun visors, steering wheel controls for cruise/stereo, and blue dash lighting. The car has 3000 miles and has had a few glitches. The center dome light didnt always come on, sometimes the trunk popped open when unlocking the doors and the 4 cyl engine sounds clattery. Hopefully the dealers are capable and cooperative. So far so good.