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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  Very Happy - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Landis Carrier - November 1 - 5:16 pm

  This is my second Kia and I am very happy with the Forte so far! I have the SX with the 6-speed, the ride is a bit bumpy but this car is a lot of fun to drive and it has a ton of features for a 17k car!

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  Happy - 2001 Kia Sephia
  By snowie2day - November 1 - 1:40 pm

  I bought my Kia as a college student and was very happy all 7 years I owned the car. Though I am not in the market for another compact car I would and have recommended my Kia to my friends and family.

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  Not at all what its supposed to be - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By lokiinlv - November 1 - 6:37 am

  Bought the high end SX thinking it would have all the great features and a responsive engine. The engine was terribly unresponsive. The electronics in the vehicle kind of worked when they wanted to. Not at all what I expected from the high end model of what was supposed to be a fairly reliable vehicle. We took a loss and quickly traded this vehicle in because of the multitude of things that were going wrong and the poor support that came along with it.

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  Best of both worlds - 2009 Kia Sportage
  By Happy - October 31 - 7:03 pm

  Have had vehicle a little over a month and am very pleased, has plenty of power and good fuel economy. Have used it to move daughter to school and hauled the needed goods well. I love the color and it always gets comments. I am tall and heavy and it is a joy to get in andout of, I think I made a good buy for me.

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  Sportage - 2013 Kia Sportage
  By fred medlin - October 31 - 6:15 am

  Great buy

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  Grear car - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By Bob goodman - October 30 - 5:18 pm

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  Happy Man - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By happyman - October 30 - 2:00 am

  I love this vehicle. 1999 Model Year. Bought it w/42,000 miles. Found that Prv owner brought it in for an electrical issue when doing lemon check, but no other issues. Fun to drive. Cant wait to take its top off!! These vehicles are hard to find used.

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  kias are more impresive from 02 to 03 - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By renee - October 30 - 2:00 am

  The kia spectra that i own now is being very good to me I have had no problems with it and when I purchase another vehicle I plan to purchase a kia optima sev6 only because I have four daughters and a wife so if you are in the market for a vehicle that is good on gas and reliable and has the biggest warrenty. If you think that kia is crap think again. They would not be able to stay in business if they always were brakeing down. Look at the quality workmanship that went into the new sorento and the price what more can you ask for and why would you.

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  Suspension rattle - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By fxp2 - October 28 - 9:33 am

  I just talked to a Kia rep for consumers affairs and explained to her that I thought the suspension is too hard and rattles in the back. After reviewing other reviews I realized this is the number one concern of most people. In addition, the tires are way too hard and do not help the suspension system. So far, the rest is ok.

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  Good Car - Bad Dealer - 2007 Kia Spectra
  By mrstan - October 26 - 2:26 pm

  My tire pressure sensor system did not work for 5000 miles after I bought this car. This car is an excellent car with power and excellent gas economy (rare combination indeed). The dealership really did suck though. There was a graduate incentive, and this was not followed up on by the dealer. Lost my 500.00.