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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  David vs. Goliath - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Vango - June 3 - 5:03 pm

  Any moron who is willing to pay 15K+ or more for a comparable equipped Dodge, Ford, Pontiac, or Honda should deserve to pay for the name. David beats Goliath - no contest.

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  Kia Sportage 2005 - 2005 Kia Sportage
  By notimeoff - June 1 - 9:10 pm

  The Sportage is a pleasure to own and drive. The service from my local dealer is great. Plenty of power with the v6. The 4 cylinder I test drove had a lackluster motor.

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  I Love My KIA SUV!! Lks Btr thn a Lexus - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By Jamminjed - May 31 - 10:00 am

  The first time I test drove the Kia Sorento I fell in love it has wonderful performance and Its Fun to Drive. The only downfall is the Gas mileage but the Power is there. Its actually looks better than a Lexus RX 300 take the 2 side by side and the KIA takes all the attention away!!!!:)I strongly recommend the KIA SORENTO to SUV lovers.

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  I love my Kia !! - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By Coleygirl - May 31 - 10:00 am

  I love my Kia Sorento. Its very comfortable to ride in and there is alot of passager room. The Sorento has plenty of storage compartments. The seats make long rides enjoyable. My best friend bought a Ford Escape the day before I bought my suv and it has been in the auto shop 3 times already. I really love my Kia Sorento.

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  Surprisingly Happy - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By mykiddacar - May 31 - 10:00 am

  I just bought my new 2003 Kia Sorento last week. Been enjoying it ever since. Couldnt be more pleased. First time to ever want to give a review, but car is worth the praise. Several friends suggested not to buy Kia, but when they saw my car, theyre anticipating buying one for themselves. I traded my Hyundai Santa Fe for the Sorento. Kia is impressive. Im a female buyer of cars, and am very proud of this choice.

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  my brand new suv - 2006 Kia Sportage
  By shelly - May 29 - 9:13 pm

  I absolutely love my Kia Sportage. The only downside is the lack of power when going up the hill, but putting that aside, I cannot find any other issues.

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  VERY PLEASED - 2017 Kia Sorento
  By Kay - May 28 - 4:18 pm

  Purchased First KIA, 2017 Sorrento 11miles because of the look of the body and safety reports. Took it for a road trip and it handled the rain, first winter snow and slush very well. One thing I was not happy about was the passenger seat indicator did not come on when the passenger took there seat belt off. This is a safety issue in which should come equipped in all vehicles. The seat belts didnt have much resistance when the breaks was given a lot of force to stop. Very happy about the many air bags. In which I am having the dealer take a look at ASAP. I love the Sorrento very smooth ride and great on GAS. Do not care for the satellite to much, The signal is not good. The radio system is great with my Teenager as well as the USB hook ups.

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  06 Kia Rio LX - 2006 Kia Rio
  By kiario06 - May 27 - 4:00 am

  The new designed Kia Rio is awesome. Much roomier than the older models. My husband can actually stretch his legs all the way out - in the 04 he couldnt. Great on gas. Handling has improved along with shocks. Comes standard with 6 airbags. If there is a person under 70 lbs sitting in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag actually turns off. aA light comes up by the radio indicating that it has been shut off. This feature is in case you have a child in the front seat, or a dog in my case, the airbag wont go off to cause more damage to them in case of an accident. If you dont wear seatbelts I wouldnt buy this car. Chime goes off every 15 seconds if youre not wearing one until you click it in.

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  We LOVE our Sorento! - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By sorento_luvr - May 26 - 4:00 pm

  We love everything about our KIA Sorento, and feel bad for those of you that have not had good luck with yours! The only item we do not like is that the sun visors are not wide enough to cover the bright sun. There are too many gaps on the sides, and there are no "extenders" like Chevys have. So ... we LOVE our Sorento, and have used it in 6 feet of Canadas snow, and on the beach in California. It ran like a dream. Go ahead, buy one! :-)

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  From Prius to Sportage love it - 2017 Kia Sportage
  By RepSoccrMom - May 26 - 3:16 am

  I love this car. Its quiet and really comfortable. Im getting roughly 28 mpg driving in Eco mode with relatively fast acceleration. It feels luxurious. Its been 6 mos and I still really love the car. The only thing that I dont like is that there isnt a automatic window washing for the back window. Because there is a hood over the back window, the gas station sponges wont clean the whole window because it doesnt fit.