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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  Gave up Dodge for KIA - 2004 Kia Optima
  By Slvrshark - January 12 - 10:00 am

  Optima: Great price, package, and jaw drops our friends who have paid so much for their cars! It redefined the future path of KIA where it is an accepted name for a more mature owner tired of paying the big bucks for the same package Optima EX offers: We are a family that purchased new vehciles such as a loaded Chrystler Town N Country, loaded Dodge Durango, and Ford King Ranch.

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  Best value for sports sedan - 2013 Kia Optima
  By darfer19 - January 12 - 5:58 am

  I spent months researching every car on the internet , taking test drives , checking out pricing ... and the Optima SXL was the absolute bext car I could find for me. It gave me exactly what I was looking for which was nice power, decent ga milage , attractive out side packaging, a lot of extra features, and an easy to use touch screen.. all for a low $30s. I drove a BMW 3 series, an Audi A4, a mazda 6, honda accord and none had a perfect blend like the Optima. The Mazda not enough HP , the Accord lacked styling in the back, the BMW nice but 40 plus grand with basic features, and the closest was the Audi which drove nice but the tech and styling also a bit dated. The Opimta SXL is great!!

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  Best overall minivan - 2007 Kia Sedona
  By Scott Armstrong - January 11 - 6:46 pm

  I test drove the Honda, Toyota,and Nissan. The Sedona was always near or at the top of every test I put it through. At roughly 8k less than the others fully loaded it was an easy decision. To this point I have no regrets. The van does everything it needs to do, it does it safely and I would say its the best family vehicle on the road. For those who value safety the Sedona has the best crash test rating ever for a minivan and has all the active safety equipment standard. For a vehicle this size fuel economy is decent, and power is plentiful.

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  Great SUV for the $$$ - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By CPhil1919 - January 9 - 2:00 am

  I love it. Its great to drive. Both my wife and I love to just ride around in it. All the extra storage is great. The built in garage door opener is great.

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  Great New Car! - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By Pink Panda - January 7 - 6:03 am

  My husband and I just bought our new Kia Spectra 5 and love it. We didnt really want a Kia, but when we test drove the Spectra 5, we changed out minds. I love the look of it and the extras we got like sunroof and cruise control. It drives really well - smooth and quiet. And best of all, its fun to drive! And lets not forget the warranty we have on it, we dont have to worry about costly repairs. We also purchased the gap insurance which is great in case the car gets totaled. Whatever the insurance wont pay, the gap insurance will cover the rest. Great piece of mind!

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  great car - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By dparent - January 6 - 5:18 am

  I had my 2005 kia spectra for 5 years, the car had 148,000 miles on it and it had never let me down. 2 weeks ago my wife and I and our 2 sons were rearended buy a fullsize suv we were waiting to turn into a drive way and we were hit. The driver of the suv didnt even try to stop he hit us at at least 55 mph. my 9 yr old son and my 6 year old son were in the back seat. and even with the impact we all walked away without injurys. after the accident the car still runs great. I will find a new body to the motor into.

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  Not Just a Sporty Economy Car - 2007 Kia Rio
  By Don K - January 5 - 9:03 am

  Just sit in one. This model has a nice sporty interior. Leather wrapped steering wheel and shifter. Sport stitched seating. The exterior is sporty with a unique look not to be mistaken for all the other models out there in its class. Though its not going to win any races, it is fun to drive. It handles well and sticks to the road. Its a compact car, so the ride is a little bumpy. It has front and side front airbags as standard safety equipment.

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  Better than I expected - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By hotrod8983 - January 4 - 2:14 pm

  We bought our Sedona new in 02 after our Windstar gave up the ghost. After all of our shopping around, test driving, negotiating, etc. it came down to the Kia or a Honda Odyssey. Hondas warranty was a joke and their non-negotiable price was $6 grand more. We took a chance. Cant say weve regretted it. A few quirks that were expected for the first model year of any car, but the warranty covered everything. Gas mileage continues to be a disappointment, but this thing plows through the snow and tows a fishing boat with no issues. Would like to buy the wife a new one but at 185,000 miles she refuses to give it up. Perfect? No. But definitely a lot for the money.

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  biggest waste of four years of payments - 2001 Kia Rio
  By john kari - January 3 - 10:00 am

  within 6 months the tranny went four times the last time kia refused to repair the car would constantly bottom out and had trouble starting even after the oil was being replaced with sythetic oil the suspension would go so low it would cause the car to bottom out worst money ever spent do not buy this POS

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  Im Very Happy - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By SPIKE - January 3 - 10:00 am

  I enjoy my spectra. The warranty is great. Kia (The Company) is very nice to deal with. However, plan to keep your spectra. The trade in value on mine with 21,000 miles and clean was only $6000.00