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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  Love My Sorento - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Susy - April 30 - 9:13 pm

  This is my second kia and it wont be my last.Ive had my Sorento for almost 4 years now and only made 1 small problem. About a year ago I had a crack in the coolant holder. I call Kia, I had an appointment and was in & out in less than an hour. My next car is going to be a Kia Spectra 5.

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  Why pay big bucks - 2006 Kia Sportage
  By Clint - April 30 - 10:30 am

  I have compared this SUV with all the others and the big bucks do not get you anything better. If buyers would give a look and try, they will buy the Kia. The workmanship and performance are very very good. I get 23mpg city and 27mpg highway. Keep it at 55 mph - I have hit 29.2mpg.

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  minor things but a GREAT buy! - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By jase - April 30 - 2:00 am

  Hi, Compared to other models, we saved close to $5,000 with $1,000 rebate. The main reasons that we bought Kia Sedona are the followings: Safety (5 stars!), price, and Warranty 10 year/100,00 miles! You just cant beat that. Now the test, my wife is the main driver for the van, and she just LOVES it. Now the minor negatives. Everything was ok until after 3 months there was rust right above the license plate holder. The rust was dripping down from where the bolts were. I think it was coming from the non-stainless bolts. Another thing is the dome light. The light doesnt come on when the wether is cold.

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  YOU GOTTA DRIVE IT. - 2007 Kia Rio
  By SKI - April 29 - 5:16 am

  You gotta drive this thing, I love it. I read a review that said this was not a good car. Go drive one. I drove some of the other cars in its class and the Rio is bigger than most and more power than most. 6 airbags and an awesome look to it. Plenty of room for all my junk. I have 3 kids that I take with me when my wife is at work and we fit perfect.

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  What a great value - 2006 Kia Sportage
  By mcrews - April 29 - 5:16 am

  What a turn around for the Sportage. Amazing attention to ergonomics. Just bought Black/black leather XE for my 18 year old daughter. No more worries! The same eguipment level from Honda or Toyota is $6k more and doesnt have the warranty.

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  We love it! - 2006 Kia Amanti
  By Irving & Sally Katz - April 28 - 9:53 am

  Weve owned or leased many classy cars, i.e. Volvo, Lincoln, Cadillac, etc. and we read about the Kia Amanti and decided to look at it after dinner one night. We didnt even do a test drive, but fell in love with it at first sight, and ended up buying it that night and driving it home. We felt like we were driving on a cloud, and the Jaguarish styling was a definite plus, not to mention the classy interior and all the luxury extras that Kia installed into the Amanti. It definitely is one of the best cars we have ever owned, and we would highly recommend it to anyone looking to purchase a new car.

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  Excellent car - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By Rachel - April 27 - 5:23 pm

  This is a nice car for the money. We are very happy with ours. It seems like a very safe clean car - we love it.

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  Love this car! - 2007 Kia Spectra
  By Landon Stauffer - April 24 - 1:39 am

  I absolutely love the 2007 Kia Spectra LX. I bought it as my first car, and was absolutely amazed. It has a good amount of pep, and handles extremely well. Drives well at high speeds, accelerates pretty quickly, and is fun to drive. I am 58" and when i sat in it I felt like a hand in a glove, perfect fit. Great gas mileage, and very reliable. I had the car for two years, from 88,000 to 107,000 miles. I replaced the timing belt when I bought it, but other than that all I had to do was oil changes. I would have loved to keep the car forever, but the LX version does not have air conditioning, and I am soon moving to a hotter climate. Mine was manual, and I did have some problems down shifting into second, as it would grind, and I dont know if that was standard among this model or not. I had to slow down a lot more than normal standards in order to shift into second gear smoothly. Overall this car was amazing and after buying, I was extremely impressed with Kia, and this Spectra. From some other Kias that I have been in and this one, I see that Kia does a great job at making comfortable vehicles. Very reliable, comfortable, cost efficient, and just an overall great car!

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  Kia has it - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By J Sherrets - April 23 - 10:10 am

  I started looking at Sorentos to help a female friend that thought she needed help shopping for one. I went to several dealers and looked around. I was impressed by the look, which looks strikingly like a Lexus RX, and by the acceleration. It handles quite well. And has good storage. It starts quickly like it is anxious to get on the road and go. I liked it so much, I bought one! And two friends liked it so much one has bought one, and other is likely going to buy one.

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  Kia Soul is Practical and Peppy! - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Val - April 18 - 7:13 pm

  Im about 59 and Ive always had small, compact cars. The Kia Soul is a unique, mini-suv (really) with more leg room than any compact car offers. Safety features, long warranty, Kias roadside assistance service, impressive STANDARD features, as well as EPA and IIS accolades sold me on this car. For the price and everything you get STANDARD, this car is a good investment. I recently noticed the blind spot everyone mentions, but; that is easily fixed by purchasing "blind-spot" mirrors at a local auto parts store.