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:

• 

  The kids love it! Nuf said. - 2011 Kia Optima
  By rutgersfan87 - February 5 - 4:20 pm

  Totally impressed with everything about our new Optima. Heated leather seats, front and rear, keeps everyone toasty...its been a cold snowy winter. Roomy interior, extreme leg room in the back for 3 kids ages 10, 13 and 17. Has all the bells and whistles you need, and more. Great looking, sporty, opted for a silver EX with Premium package right off the showroom floor. It didnt have the UVO nav-ent. system, but you should consider it. So far we are very happy with our purchase and would highly recommend this vehicle. Over 3 weekends, we test drove or saw all the competition and the Optima was the classiest ride, and best bang for the buck.

• 

  Great for the Money! - 2008 Kia Sorento
  By Armtek - February 5 - 3:46 pm

  Sorento EX replaced a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer Premier. We wanted better gas mileage and smaller size SUV (no more hauling around gaggles of girls sports teams). Only gave up 3rd row seat (which we wanted to do anyway), passenger power seat adjustment/lumbar support (which would be bad but the seats are very comfortable), and a little on the stereo quality (but we are rectifying that with an aftermarket nav/sound next month). Comfort is very good, fit/finish is very good, ride is very good and stable (plus we can get our favorite Goodyear Tripletred tires for it). Performance was much better than expected, with the 3.8l V-6 really pushing the Sorento better than our older V-8 SUV.

• 

  Okay Car for Price - 2001 Kia Sephia
  By latingirl4evr - February 5 - 1:52 pm

  I purchased this car 4 years ago at 38000 now it has 114k. Have to replace spark plugs & wires often, door freezes in cold weather. Also replaced battery, brakes, belts, both front axles. I have alot of common issues as others on the reviews. Its a cheap car & you get what you pay for. I got it manual & it seems like automatics are having engine trouble, currently my signals do not work. So I am waiting for the next thing not to work. But despite the car issues its an okay car to have but i will not buy another one.

• 

  Love It! - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By livelarge_egb - February 5 - 6:46 am

  I have had my Kia for 2 1/2 years, went from an Expedition to the Sorento. Wasnt sure at first, but it has been nothing but good to me. I get compliments all the time, have not had one problem, and when it is time to purchase a new vehicle, it will be a Kia. The only thing I dont like is the lack of room in the back seat. I even get a free oil change on the anniversary of my purchase. Overall, it is worth every penny!

• 

  Great KIA Sorento - still going great. - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By Lane Ward - February 4 - 12:37 pm

  Good performance and value. Excellent functionality and quality. So glad we have it. Great buy.

• 

  kIA SORENTO - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By elmin - February 3 - 2:00 am

  After test driving several mid size suvs, I fell in love with the Sorento as soon as I saw it. It drives great!

• 

  Feels good - 2016 Kia Soul
  By Jing He - February 2 - 3:09 pm

  Just feel good.

• 

  a very happy owner - the best car we have - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By robert H. - February 2 - 7:03 am

  We have owned many cars from the VW era to the Lincoln, Caddie era. Our Amanti sedan with all the bells and whistles arrived in May 04 and now has 16 thousand miles of the most pleasing hours behind the wheel. We look forward to taking trips, it is that much pleasure driving it. I researched this car and compared it to many other luxury cars; also drove 7 cars and found we kept coming back to the KIA AMANTI. I love it. The auto magazines I monitor have rated the AMANTI as the quietest car made at idle; 40 Db and at 70 mph at 63 Db. No car beats it for quietness and those of you who own one can vouch for that. Being an engineer I have done all sorts of evaluations. Why spend $50,000 more?

• 

  Still pleased two years later - 2005 Kia Sportage
  By Albet - February 1 - 8:56 am

  Very satisfied with this generation of the Sportage. Outstanding safety features, comfortable and reliable. Tremendous on an off-surface. Although I was going to have my teenage son drive my older American sedan, Ive become more comfortable with him driving the Kia. Now if they would only come up with a hybrid version.

• 

  Took a little getting used to but really happy - 2012 Kia Sportage
  By igibbons - January 31 - 9:08 pm

  After 14 years of driving small hatchback cars, I made the leap into a compact SUV. Im a long time Hyundai owner and they never failed me, so I credited Kia with the same reliability. The interior of the sportage looks classy and sleek, even at the base model. I have the 6 speed manual and the pickup is great, you do have to hit 4-5000 rpms for max power but its got some kick. The cargo space fits my surfboard and bike so Im set. I just had to get used to "more car" and less visibility...but now that Im comfortable I really like it. I average 23 mph in city driving. I would recommend it to a friend hands down. Did I mention its pretty fast as well.