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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  A great little car - 2006 Kia Spectra
  By Richard - May 15 - 3:30 am

  Bought my Spectra about one year ago, currently has about 18,000 miles on it. I have had absolutely no problems with it. I had cruise control added at the time of purchase, other than that its stock. This is my daily driver, its comfortable, reliable and gets decent mileage. The Spectra happens to be my second Kia, I have a Sedona van that has been to the dealer several times (however everything was covered by the warranty) it currently has 58,000 miles on it. The Spectras a great handling car.

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  shopping for my wife , got two instead - 2010 Kia Soul
  By FredR - May 14 - 1:30 pm

  Went to get my wife a review for her car choice and wound up coming home with two of them. I thought they would be small but there is plenty of room inside and plenty of selling features to draw you in. Time will tell on the reliability questions, but with the decent warranty that should be ok if problems arise over the next ten years. Whod of thought a little wind up toy like this would make practicle sense for us. Hope everyone else is loving theirs as much as my wife and I are. For the first day anyway.

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  Bettys Ride - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By Betty Carlin - May 14 - 10:33 am

  This is truly a girls car! I love driving and showing everyone my beautiful Amati!!! People stop and ask me what kind of car is that? They are impressed that its a Kia. They want to know all about it and the guys want the check out under the hood! The ride and drive is right up there with Cadillac and other great classic autos,as I have owned them too. The Amati has all the power you need on the road and handles beautifully. It is a pleasure to own such a wonderful auto at the most competitive price out there. I do look forward to my next Amati. ps.The gas mile is also very good! Thanks Betty C

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  Good deal! - 2009 Kia Optima
  By great car! - May 13 - 9:33 pm

  My husband and I always bought American cars. We looked around, test drove many. For the value and what you get, you cant go wrong! We traded a big SUV we could not afford any more thanks to our changing economy and purchased this car and we cant say enough! Comfortable ride, good on fuel, nice looks. Get the convenience package with it.

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  sAFE & ECONOMICAL - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By smulvey - May 13 - 10:00 am

  THIS CAR HAS PERFORMED WELL.IT IS ABOUT 300 LBS HEAVIER THAN THE SATURN SL IT REPLACED. IT FEELS IT. WHILE A LITTLE SLOWER TO ACCELERATE, THAT EXTRA POUNDS ADDS UP TO BIG SAFETY IF YOU LOOK AT PHOTOS OF WRECKED SATURNS AND WRECKED SPECTRA AT THE IIHS WEBSITE. WE LIKE THE SPECTRA A LOT. THE CAR HAS HAD NO SERIOUS FLAWS

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  wow - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By TGuess - May 13 - 10:00 am

  When I first looked at the Sorento I was impressed. After two months of looking around, Icould not find anything better. But a KIA? After owning the Sorento now for almost two months. All I can say is: If you want a GREAT SUV get to KIA and buy one!!

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  Great SUV - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By krysta - May 13 - 3:06 am

  Mu husband bought this for me when I was 6 months pregnant. This was the only car that I was comfortable in and still am . I really love this SUV. I would definitely buy another one in the future

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  kia lover - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By eric myers - May 12 - 1:23 pm

  three fun trips to atlanta,ga..did not have to worry about a thing.

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  cool car - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Chris - May 11 - 8:30 pm

  This a very fun car to drive and be seen in. It handles great and I am averaging about 26 miles to the gallon. I took on a trip out of town recently in an unforeseen early spring snow storm and it performed at a level that left myself and my entire family at ease the entire trip. The engine has plenty of zip in it and the body looks like no other. The only minor downfall is that there are no cup holders for the rear seat only bottle holders in the doors. My kids also wished that it came with a free hamster, but I think they will get over it.

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  First KIA - 2010 Kia Soul
  By GJ2420 - May 11 - 10:00 am

  I have had my Soul SE GHOST for about a week now and I have to say it is a real winner! Lots of comments from everyone about the looks especially the black alloy wheels and low profile tires.I shopped for 2 months and really just walked into the dealer after reading some reviews and made the purchase on the same day. Two other couples were looking at this beauty at the same time so I purchased the same day. Also really appreciate it is a limited edition with approx 1100 on the road so that is a plus for me. Drives great, looks great and handles very well coming off the freeway onto the exit ramps, really sticks to the road in the corners. Lots of us boomers are driving this car, way to go KIA.