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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  My First New Car - 2010 Kia Forte
  By kurtybee - March 11 - 11:36 pm

  I have been driving used cars my entire life. Driving became a chore instead of a joy. When the transmission suddenly broke in my Sable without warning I decided to buy a new car. I made a V line for the Kia Forte. It is the best looking car in its class. I picked up the 5 speed auto with the Eco package and I am very pleased with it. The car has better acceleration than the 4 speed and the steering is smoother and more comfortable. The headroom, leg room, and trunk space in this car is unbelieve. Kia did a good job using the space provided. I am 510 and I find my sisters civic to feel cramped. I felt like a was driving in a sardine can. The Forte has room to spare. I love to drive again.

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  LOVIN IT - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Kings - March 11 - 12:20 pm

  This is an awesome little car. We went from a gas guzzling Mazda 6 to this awesome 31 avg. MPG car. This is our very first new car and what a buy! There have been no issues. Our MPG is just amazing to us and we are saving money on our payments. If people dont like that it doesnt have auto everything I say to them,"QUIT BEING LAZY!". As for MPG, if ya cant get great milage, maybe try keepin it in ECO MODE or just try driving the speed limit. This isnt a Ford, Nissan, or GM, this is in a class of its own. One awesome car, way to go Kia.

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  Its Hip, Funky and Fun ... - 2010 Kia Soul
  By theFUNK - March 11 - 5:13 am

  Test driven the Soul 4u Burner(CDA spec) aka Sport, loved it and got it. The exterior styling is hip and good looking compared to the scion xB and nissan cube. The interior is also nice as well. Performance is pretty good. Its pretty speedy once your off accel. The engine noise is LOUD when you are up accelerating to the 1st and 2nd gear (gear ratios are high). When in cruising speed is pretty quiet compared to other economy cars. The manual transmission was pretty fun but is not that great. When you shift you dont feel that youre at that gear yet. So i might suggest automatic. Finally Kia has brightened their lineup with this. Really impressed.

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  great design, but flawed! - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Doug B. - March 10 - 5:20 pm

  This is a company car; we wanted something fairly new with a warranty and the Sorento fit the bill. I am impressed with the ride, the handling, the comfort (I am 68") and the storage. Despite its low horsepower, I find it to be a quick when you mash the pedal. What really impressed me is the storage, all the reviews by car mags complain about the lack of storage but I found it to be more than enough. Dealer service has been exemplary. My personal car is a Lexus LS400, and the dealer treatment approaches the Lexus dealer. With every service they wash the car, amazing. Only complaint is the check engine light.

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  Yes, I bought a Kia! - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By RRG - March 10 - 10:00 am

  Yes, I bought a Kia! At first I was nervous about doing so, but after months of research and test driving other SUVs on the market, it became obviously clear that the Sorento was the SUV for us (the warranty helped ease my mind about buying a Kia as well. I love the way it looks (I call it my generic Lexus) and with the luxury package on the EX model, it has all the features you need in a vehicle. It rides very nice and the seats are very comfortable, it is an all-around great vehicle. Weve only had it for 3 weeks, but already have put on more than 1,000 miles and it seems to be doing great.

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  davids sorento - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By cybergasm - March 10 - 10:00 am

  so far with only 3k miles showing on the clock it has a flawless vehicle to drive so far. like the handling, hate the steering tho too light all the time absolutly love the stereo system in it too.

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  Great Econo Coach! - 2003 Kia Rio
  By BILL - March 10 - 1:36 am

  Great little cheapie, all I expected was for her to get me from point a to b cheaply, and reliably, and shes definitely filled those requirements. I expected low power due to the engine size but its more than sufficient on flat roadways. I would not recommend the automatic, in hilly or mountainous conditions, since the computer wants to up and downshift to maintain road speed. I haul a lot and this little wagon just keeps on chuggin, my gas guzzlers stay at home while I drive this one back and forth to work. I doubt you could have found a better car for the price back in 2003.

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  I love it! - 2005 Kia Amanti
  By Vikki Wiggins - March 10 - 12:03 am

  I love everything about this car! But, the gas mileage lacks a lot to be desired. You must use premium gas, but the best I have done on a long road trip is 17.2 mpg. I dont believe I will ever see 25 mpg. The strange thing is that it does not seem to matter with this car whether you drive it like a grandma or at high speeds. It gets the same on a long trip either way. I must say that I like the car enough that even with the bad gas mileage, I would still purchase the same car if I had it to do all over again. I spent a long time shopping prior to buying, and for the price, in my opinion, it is the best car on the market. Very high quality.

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  Great quality - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By Ken - March 9 - 10:20 am

  My Amanti has been just great. Its a beautiful car. The quality of this import is superb.

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  Kia Forte SX - From 0 - 225k Miles - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Tim C. - March 8 - 9:19 pm

  I bought my Kia Forte SX Sedan with manual transmission brand new back in August 0f 2010. I had fallen on some pretty challenging financial times and owned a very unreliable used American made automobile. I shopped around heavily in attempt to find something reliable but also within my financial means to get around to work and to tote my little daughter around safely. I visited the Kia dealership in Ann Arbor, MI. They had this model sitting in the show room. I was looking for something less in cost, but they were very motivated to move out this particular vehicle due to it being a manual, which in that area was a tough sell for the market the dealership was in. I preferred owning a manual transmission, so I drove it, loved it, and the dealer worked out a great deal to help me help them. Fast forward to November of 2017 ... I have 225,000 original miles on the engine. Vehicle runs like it did the day I bought it. The body is in near mind condition with zero rust. Most amazing is that I have never had to replace the clutch or any part of the manual transmission! 225k miles with the original clutch! Ive never owned a car where I had so little to repair while keeping up on basic maintenance and service. I just recently decided to hand over the keys to this wonderful ride over to my teenage daughter who I taught to drive a manual. She is new at it all, but also loves the car that she grew up riding around in. Im not sure how many more miles that quick little Forte SX has left in it, but Im anticipating many more safe and reliable miles to go. Hats off to Kia Motors!