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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  Great Kia - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By Dan - June 21 - 6:10 pm

  We bought this van to replace our 1997 Nissan Quest and this van surpasses the Nissan by a very large margin. We like everything about this van aside from the fact that the gas mileage is not up to par. But that is because of the extra weight but I will gladly sacrifice a little mpg for the safety in rain snow and windy conditions.

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  Outstanding van for a low price. - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By superpowter - June 21 - 6:56 am

  Great car, comfort and performance all together, smooth ride, had a couple of issues with sensors they were fixed by my dealership for free (got a 60K miles warranty on a pre-owned car). This is my second sedona LX 2006, I bought in less than one year.

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  Needs some improvements - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By Deanna - June 21 - 6:43 am

  A/C went out in 2 months. Dealer did an excellent and fast job getting it fixed. The transmission was acting up so they reset the computer and that fixed the problem and improved gas mileage. Its starting to act up again. Time for them to reset. The fold down in between front seats needs to be improved and the cup holders are terrible. Your cups get stuck and tear open spelling your drink every where. But I would rather have the Kia overall. I did own a Dodge Caravan and a Ford Windstar. Hands down the Kia Is very comfortable and very quiet!

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  Kia Soul Review - 2012 Kia Soul
  By schuls - June 21 - 6:05 am

  I love my new car more & more each day.

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  Catch a Sport! - 2017 Kia Sportage
  By Stuart Brooks - June 20 - 7:11 pm

  Just Bought this 2017 Kia Sportage LX on 4/3/16. This is a 4th Generation Sportage. Much improved over the 2016. 1 1/2 inches longer, more sound deadning materials, improved interior over 2016. I have only owned this vehicle a coulple of days. Fit Finish, performance, this Vehicle is a must see on your list of cross over SuVs. Even includes a Backup camera on the LX Models! Long Warranty. Test Drive it! You will be pleasantly Surprised! Just added another Review on 10/5/16---Have owned this Sportage now for 5 months and I still stand behind my review above. DRIVE IT! YOU DECIDE SPORTAGE OR CR-V! Kia has gone the extra mile to really come up with a real winner here!

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  Love my Kia, a real trooper!!! - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By rrman79 - June 20 - 5:35 pm

  I have a convertable 2002 Kia Sportage, I love this car and I am sad to say in a few weeks I will be selling it to a buddy at work. My Sportage has 119,000 miles on it now, I bought it with 9,000! So far I have had to replace the roof (vinyl top) that was because for the first 4 years of ownership I did not have a garage!! The air-conditioner compressor locked up at about 60,000, but being a convertable, why do you need A/C? The 4 wheel drive went out about the same time, somthing about the seals rotting?? And just recently had the Master Brake Cylinder replaced. You might say, how can this guy still love this car?? I have had it for 8 years now, and it never quit on me!! A faithful friend

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  Im in love - 2010 Kia Forte
  By crazyyank - June 20 - 1:23 pm

  I traded in my 07 Corolla for the 2010 Forte SX Koup. Ive had the car for 2 weeks and I still smile everytime I look at it. I got the silver exterior and the sunroof. The car handles like a dream and the acceleration is more than enough (esp when you hit it at 60 to get past a slower car). The ride is a little stiff, but as someone else said it is a sports car. I do not miss my Corolla at all nor do I regret not getting the 6cyl Mustang I was thinking about. You get more "bang for the buck" with this car and more than one person has commented on the exterior styling.

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  My new KIA - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By John Hawker - June 20 - 5:26 am

  The new Kia Sorento we got on January 1, 2005 is the best SUV I have driven. We have a Ford Escape as well. The KIA is a better ride and is much better driving.

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  The optima is a race machine - 2004 Kia Optima
  By Jamie - June 19 - 9:36 pm

  It is a awesome car, but minor problems are going wrong. I commute 65 miles a day. great gas mileage nice and comfortable. The only problem is , is that my trunk latch broke the other day. Now today my front door on the drivers side wouldnt open from the inside and out. It is a fixable problem. The only thing is I look like a retard going in and out of my car just to drive. I now have a paranoia that the other door will go. Or that my key will break!!!

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  Not so sure... - 2006 Kia Sorento
  By lindsey1242 - June 19 - 11:37 am

  I just bought my Kia less than a week ago and these reviews are scaring me. Probably should have looked at reviews before I bought... Anyway, I really like everything about the car so far except today I turned on the head lights for the first time, and the dome and map lights come on with the head lights and so far I cant get them to turn off while the headlights are on. I really dont want to drive at night with all the lights on inside the car. Shucks. I hope this wasnt a bad choice.