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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  the optimal optima ! - 2016 Kia Optima
  By ernest biddle - July 4 - 2:26 pm

  balance of performance ,handling and comfort.........just about perfect!

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  Like the car but gas mileage is not there - 2012 Kia Rio
  By talanj - July 4 - 8:40 am

  Good little car. Great features. Good price. Good warranty. Good dealer service. Car scoots along good on the highway. By far the best looking car in the class.

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  Has been great for us - 2007 Kia Sedona
  By Deanne - July 3 - 2:56 pm

  We love our Kia Sedona van. It handles well and is very comfortable...granted it has a bunch of bells and whistles. We have had relatively few problems and if I were to purchase a van again...it would be a Sedona. The gas mileage in town is not great but I like it on the highway. I especially like the tire monitoring system, the back seat folding down, the back windows able to go down and how much power I feel I have versus our Grand Caravan we had prior to this.

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  Outstanding car for the money - 2002 Kia Optima
  By Larry Hofmeister - July 3 - 10:00 am

  Bought this as a leftover 2002 model and have been absolutely delighted with the purchase. The car is comfortable, quiet, tight and just plain impressive for the money. This is the 3rd Kia Ive owned and Im still very pleased with value for the money.

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  Great value - 2002 Kia Rio
  By Larry Hofmeister - July 3 - 10:00 am

  For a $7000 car this thing has been very impressive. Runs like a watch, comfortable to drive, great mileage and nice looking car.

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  black and fully loaded - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By pbsigma93 - July 3 - 10:00 am

  I love the newly redesigned Kia Spectra. I have a 2004 Black Sedan fully loaded with a sunroof and very stylish.

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  Best little car we drove - 2008 Kia Rondo
  By Rod - July 3 - 5:50 am

  We test drove many cars in this range, the Matrix, the Vibe and a few others. This one beat them all out and continues to impress us. 28 mpg on trips. Low entry cost and with a V6 as well. Seating for 7 so we can take extras and plenty of little storage spots. But also it is quite peppy and handles like a dream. A very welcome car after the Dodge Grand Caravan.

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  2010 Kia Forte Sedan SX - 2010 Kia Forte
  By 1joeyoung - July 3 - 4:13 am

  In several online reviews, the clutch is mentioned as a negative. I agree that the clutch is definitely "Different" in the 6spd Manual, but I think thats the way it is in many cars. While shopping, I drove a MINI, Civic Si, Genesis Coupe, all manual. Every one had different clutch characteristics. Aside from that, I really like the Forte. It has great exterior styling for a compact car, and nice interior arrangement and surfaces for a car of this price range. The seats are comfortable and the upgraded cloth of the SX feels more durable than the standard cloth seats. The trunk is surprisingly large for a car of this size.

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  Rear Passenger Door Wont Open - 2012 Kia Sorento
  By annoyed7 - July 2 - 10:26 pm

  Purchased 2012 Sorrento Ex in June and 3 days after purchasing it we had problems with the rear passenger door. It would either stick or would not open at all. We had it at the dealership numerous times to try and fix it. The last time we had taken it in they said they were going to order a whole new door panel. We had to wait weeks for it to arrive from Korea. It was finally fixed or so we thought. About 8 weeks later the door will still not open. Presently the door has not opened for close to two weeks now. We have 3 children and feel this suv is not safe to drive. Trying to get Kia to help is very difficult. It is usually days to get a response from them.

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  NOT a good minivan option - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Jesse R - July 1 - 10:16 pm

  First warning if you are researching here: The only reason the average rating for this van is 8.0 is because the vast majority of the ratings are from 02 and 03. That said, I bought my Sedona about 1 year ago, with 50k miles. I am trading it in for an 07 Town & Country. Why? 1. Alternator died 2. bearings and axle on passenger side died 3. Tension pulley for serpentine belt fell off 4. Tranny is beginning to shift wierd (see other ecent reviews about the tranny issues with Sedonas) 5. Several squeaks and rattles that drive me nuts. 6. sticky difficult sliding doors Overall, I cannot own it any longer as I do not trust that it will serve any better than it has in the first year.