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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  2007 KIA Optima - 2007 Kia Optima
  By bearscouter - January 26 - 7:26 am

  The basic car is great but the fuel mileage is less than advertised. With a 34 hwy mpg on the sticker we figured we would average over 30 but we are between 26 and 28 mpg. That has really disappointed us. KIA does not seem concerned saying it is better than the 24 city mpg. We drive 95% highway on cruise control on 70 MPH with not much slowing or stopping. Also the radio does not pick up AM very well.

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  Others Dont Come Close... - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By SedonaForever - January 26 - 2:00 am

  I have 1,000 miles on this car and I love it. Other vans cannot compete with the features/value of the Sedona. Highly recommended.

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  Sorento is a great SUV for the $$$ - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By pastrad - January 26 - 2:00 am

  I have only had this SUV a couple of weeks but so far so good. The only things I dont like are the front OH lights dont come on when you open the door. The middle and back ones do. The standard AM/FM/CD could use more power. The guage package is rather plain but nicely done. Floor heat mildly comes through dash registers. The leather is very nice. The horn is AWFUL. Sounds like a toy car. Overall a 9 out of 10.

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  Pretty good basic car - 2006 Kia Rio
  By Julia - January 25 - 7:50 pm

  I had my rio for 2 years almost exactly and it had 50,000 miles on it! It still ran great but I did keep having problems with the battery. I had to get 3 within that period of time and the third was malfunctioning. That didnt really bother me since it was easily fixed, covered by warranty and there were no other problems. The ride is noisy and random passengers would always think a window was cracked from wind noise. I was warned of that and it didnt matter to me. I liked the interior actually and thought it looked cool and cleaned well. Gas mileage was not nearly as good as expected. If possible spend more get civic, much better quality and gas mileage. But this is good for the money.

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  So far so good. - 2006 Kia Rio
  By Go Green - January 24 - 10:00 pm

  Our Rio has over 68,000 miles on it and has had no problems. Steering, brakes, everything on this car is still as tight as the day we got it. My wife had traded in her gas guzzling Jeep Cherokee and we laughed at her choice. When gas prices rose, I began using it for selling Real Estate and my clients are shocked when they find how roomy the back seat is. It is a great car for scooting around the city and taking a trip does not break the bank. With a fresh oil change I can get up to 38 mpg on the highway! City driving gets from 25 to 32 mpg. Fresh oil affects the mileage so keep it serviced.

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  Safety feature needed - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By Edubb - January 23 - 7:43 pm

  My wife and I love our new car and love the features as well. The one thing that caught our attention sre the door locks. Being previous Honda owners, we are used to the door NOT unlocking while in the car. In the KIA you can pull the lever and the door opens. I have not seen any of the editors or others comment on this.

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  Its Okay - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By carlos - January 23 - 5:23 am

  Great price, very reliable, good warranty.

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  Great Improvements - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By Skinnyspike - January 21 - 10:00 am

  I purchased a 1999 Sephia and it was an okay car for the price so I checked out the 2003 Spectra. Wow, what a car for the price! Kia took care of the minor design problems with this model and added some nice touches.

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  Great value people mover. - 2013 Kia Soul
  By dean_h - January 13 - 3:50 pm

  Purchased this one to replace unsure footed 2002 Rav4. The interior room and MPG are key reasons. Great a little car has a lot of room. I am well seasoned light footed driver. It does 37.3MPG at NJ Turnpike, and does 33 MPG in town. I have feather weight family, would go with 2.0 engine.

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  Good Value - 2004 Kia Optima
  By Ant - January 11 - 3:56 pm

  I didnt think that Kia would have a good car, but the Optima proved me wrong on the test drive. My 04 V6 has a good amount of power and the style of it makes it look like it might have cost a lot.