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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  2010 Soul for Mom - 2010 Kia Soul
  By H-Battery - December 13 - 2:13 pm

  We bought the Soul as a 3rd car ( teenager got the older car) for mom to drive. She puts quite a few miles on a car per year so we wanted something w/ decent fuel economy. We chose the Soul over Honda CRV, Toyota Rav4, Kia Sportage & Subaru Forester.

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  Forget Honda or Toyota - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Bikermidget - December 13 - 12:40 pm

  Soon as you drive it youll know.Quiet,smooth,nice heater,passenger sensor airbag,side airbags,roomy,nice stereo,traction control,steering wheel controls,fuel effecient and most of all affordable.You cant beat this for the price.We got the EX automatic 2.0 and love it.I couldnt stand the KIA before,all of them looked cheap and generic but as soon as I seen this one I was amazed.

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  Fun Run-about with style - 2009 Kia Sportage
  By CEsav - December 13 - 4:10 am

  With the rebate, great price to start with, no nonesense dealer (not what I found at Toyota and Honda)the surprizing quiet ride and style plus 10/100 warranty, I was sold. I bought it for around town driving, but drove well on the interstate, and got a solid 26mpg. The 4 banger took a little to getting use to (at the lights), but was better than I thought it would, but love it at the gas pump. LX is good value.

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  good car - 2009 Kia Rondo
  By godesshay - December 11 - 12:54 pm

  I bought this car with 41,000 on it.i love how it handles it has lots of room its comfortable on long trips it fits 7 people with no problem with the 3rd row its a very quiet ride.i like the car it is built well to be a kia i was unsure about it before i bought it,but now it has impressed me :) it fits my family its good on long trips

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  Sedonas a good ride - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Andy - December 11 - 8:03 am

  Ran great for 40,000 miles, then had engine hesitation. Needed extensive parts replaced but all covered under plan. Running smooth again.

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  Good SUV for the price - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Tim - December 10 - 12:50 pm

  Good vehicle for the money. Fun to drive, quiet and so far seems durable. Could do better on fuel economy. Wish the steering wheel controls were lighted.

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  Worth a look - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By kiafamily - December 9 - 11:46 pm

  We bought our Sorento with 35K on it; it now has over 50K, and we havent had a single maintenance problem with it. Comfort, cargo space, performance and looks are all excellent. My wife can fit a full load of groceries in the back with a big jogger stroller with room to spare. Snow and wet weather traction are both wonderful. My only complaint is gas mileage. On the highway in the summer, it gets 21- 22mpg (pretty good), but in the city in winter, youre talking 14-16 mpg (OI!). For any family of four or less looking for a good quality SUV for cheap money compared to Honda, Toyota and Nissan, this is definitely worth a look!

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  Well, it wasnt expensive - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By Bexley - December 9 - 9:06 am

  For an inexpensive car, the reliability has been outstanding, but over time the "little" things have crept up. Seat(s) have become rather uncomfortable, wind noise is more pronounced, and now a disconcerting noise is coming from the front end, as if a strut is loose ore something. Also, little bits of trim have fallen off, but mechanically, only the brakes have been replaced, at 55,000 mi. I might keep it longer if it werent becoming so unpleasant to sit in for more than 1/2 hour or so.

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  none - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By markf - December 8 - 10:00 am

  Wonderful ride, great price and awsome warranty

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  Sorentos Rock! - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By Kia 4 Me - December 8 - 10:00 am

  Simply put, its great! After driving various models I was surprised to find the Sorento competes most closly with the benchmark Lexus (in terms of comfort/conveinence/performance) than any others tested (15 models). Ill write again once the odometer hits 30k to let you know reliability. The downside: Avg MPG Real competitors in size/weight/hp (Lexus/Jeep/Ford) avg better, but the safty, room, ride quality, cabin quiteness, and solid construction cannot be had until you practically double the price! If you do the math (gas @ 2.00 per gallon and 15K miles per year)the gas "savings" you get will take 23-37 YEARS of driving to realize!