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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  2016 SXL with TechPackage. - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By samiv - October 28 - 11:49 pm

  CONTEXT: Husband/Wife in the market for 1 year | Previously owned 2 gens of Durangos | | Were mid 40s | 1 dog | value: comfort, safety, reliability, styling | Our other car is a 12 Merc E350. COMPARED: (over 1 year): Buick (heavy, boat-y drive), Highlander (perfect features, HORRIBLE boaty drive), VW Tourag (great drive, way over priced), Jeep GC (decent drive, great features, overpriced), Infinity Q (this was our 2nd choice; it lost out based on drive quality)....and 5 others. EXPERIENCE: Weve had it only 3 weeks: Taken onto beach (sand, up steep hills; no traction loss), local mountain roads (handled great!), to work; -44 mile commute (PRISTINE comfort!!), DateNight (Luxury!)

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  Great family car....so far.... - 2008 Kia Rondo
  By jason - October 28 - 2:40 pm

  I bought the Rondo for the price. I have only had it for a year, but so far it runs great and hasnt had any problems. The Rondo is very roomy and has a lot of features I would not have expected for the price. 8 different airbags, anti lock brakes, electronic stability control, 4 wheel disk brakes, and a auto shifter. So far it has proven to be a great family car and i would recommend one to anyone thinking of buying one. It does have a wind noise on the drivers side, which i have read about in other complaints, which the factory or dealers cannot fix, but it doesnt bother me anymore. I work with a bunch of guys with big egos, they make fun of me everyday for driving this vehicle...

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  2010 forte EX review - 2010 Kia Forte
  By stevenmark - October 27 - 10:33 pm

  Purchased this car as a birthday present to myself a few weeks ago. This car rides, looks, and feels as if I spent thousands more on it. I test drove other vehicles in its class such as Toyota corolla, Mazda 3, civic sedan, just to name a few and the forte won out over these cars. The Mazda and Honda had horrible road noise where as the forte was very quiet inside.

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  So far,so good - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By No4Mk1 - October 27 - 10:00 am

  I just bought a new Spectra. First new car I have ever owned (was about time). So far, so good. Gas mileage has been consistently around 30mpg. Shifts very smoothly. I have now put nearly 3000 miles on it. Looks like itll need a set of studded tires for the winter. Enough room for my kids in the back - better than a Rio.

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  KIA go back to making Bicycles - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By msiriodis - October 27 - 10:00 am

  Not worth the Money, service is null and even the service provider told me that we live and learn when I told him the car I had purchased.

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  april buyer - 2004 Kia Optima
  By scrubmd - October 27 - 10:00 am

  had problems with the trunk latch second day of owning car but dealer fixed right away and provided a loaner vehicle until fixed. car takes bumps and handles nicely and has a great sound system

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  so far so good! - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By natalio hanna - October 27 - 10:00 am

  great mini van. for sure better than any american built. dont compare with hondas or nissans. but they dont have nearly as good a warrenty

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  needs outside temp. gauge.. - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By blomquist - October 27 - 10:00 am

  I really love my KIA sorento.. I only have a few complaints. On a suv this loaded, I cant believe that there is no outside temp. gauge. I also think the key needs to come into the new millenium. Make the key and remote one piece. Such as the audi/VW. I am a former vw owner and i loved that key combo.. Overall I really love my sorento..Time will tell..:)

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  Great Car LOW PRICE - 2010 Kia Optima
  By DERSSAS - October 26 - 3:00 pm

  Wow. I had this car for a couple months now and it is amazing. There is no complaints . It handles the road well and gas mileage is perfect . Plus now they have a $2000 Discount Incredible. The guys at Nationwide treated me great and I really enjoyed my buying experience. Hands down the best one yet .

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  first time kia owner - 2009 Kia Borrego
  By royalray - October 26 - 9:56 am

  good product for the money. a few sounds and clicks from underneath the passenger side when stopped at a light, like a solenoid clicking on and off. esc and downhill light came on and froze the transmission and caused vehicle to drag on two separate incidents , had to turn engine off to shift gears. kia service said contacts needed to be tightened on both occasions. Computer detected a stability problem when non existed... 1,000 miles later all is well. Infinity radio not the best sound quality and only takes one CD