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:

• 

  Safety - 2008 Kia Rondo
  By happyparent - November 24 - 1:26 am

  My daughter was driving the car in the mountains and spun out on some gravel. She went airborne, cleared a ditch and ended up in a field. She spun a couple times resulting in peeling two tires off the rim. When the tow truck arrived he told her that this was really strange, all the other spin outs on this curve usually resulted in severe roll overs. When my wife and myself bought this car, we mentioned how stiff and sturdy it drove. We had been looking at several different small cars but we kept coming back to the Kia Rondo because it drove and felt sturdier. We are so thankful we chose this car because of its strength, the total damage cost $150 for alignment and rebalance the tires.

• 

  Fun to drive vehicle with its quriks. - 2012 Kia Sportage
  By mjonm - November 24 - 12:58 am

  Fun to drive SUV. We replaced a 2006 Nissan Murano that was a gas hog,and was falling apart and this is a much better SUV. The Nissan rogue we test drove was a piece of crap,and the visibility was horrible and the CRV? garbage,RAV 4? ugly. The Sportage offers alot of excellent standard features over those other models. The only downsize is the hard plastic interior that easily scratches even if you breathe on it. Kia should improve it and make the interior better quality and durable with softer touch materials and padding.

• 

  Finally - 2017 Kia Sportage
  By Dick Faust - November 23 - 3:43 pm

  We have a 2011 Sportage and still love it. This represents the first radical change since that model came out. It meets my entire checklist of must have items except for adaptive radar cruise, which is only available in larger models. We were willing to forgo that option in favor of the size of the Sportage which is just right for us. We couldnt be happier. Kia has worked on every feature to make it smoother, softer and more advanced while still intuitive.

• 

  Great Value KIA - 2009 Kia Spectra
  By nolarobert - November 23 - 2:50 pm

  This is a new purchase. I was able to get the "Copperhead" color, so the car looks sharp & it has fog lights and a rear spoiler. Before you laugh at the spoiler, I was cruising the I-10 at 105 mph & this engine was up to the task. At 85 mph & below the cabin noise was minimal. I took some local back roads and the suspension was solid and the car felt glued to the road even as I took the curves at a goodly amount of speed. The brakes bring the car to a quick stop with no spongy fade. I look forward to taking my new Spectra on a long road trip to visit family in TN. The 700 mile journey will allow me to wring this car out & see if it holds up for the 11 hour drive.

• 

  Best Midsize Car for 2011 - 2011 Kia Optima
  By dankocke - November 22 - 6:07 pm

  Ok, so Ive owned several dozen cars over the last twenty years....I trade once a year or so. Ive had 3 Kias and 2 Hyundais and they have all been terrific cars. This Optima, though, is the cream of the crop. I traded a Lexus ES 350 which the Optima compares to very favorably, especially for the money. There is a difference between bying the EX/SX and the LX in respect to road noise. This one is quieter than my Lexus. I have the nav which is awesome and the interior of the car is just plain great. Gas seems to hover around 27 mpg mixed. Bottom line: quiet like a Camry, but feels like an Accord...which by the way is super noisy at HWY speed. More to come in a few months...

• 

  WOW, says it for me. - 2008 Kia Optima
  By BigChris - November 22 - 8:40 am

  As with many people my bias toward Kia was negative based on second hand knowledge of prior year models BUT Wow, I am so far amazed. I gave the car a 9/10 on Interior only because I feel the plushness of the cloth seat fabric does not fully live up to the quality level of this car. I am impressed with how this car measures up to my test drives in similar Lexus, Toyota, Volvo, and Mazda vehicles. Sweet! The cabin is solid and quite. Rear seat leg room and comfort beyond expectation. Ride, Steering, and Handling ... ahhhh ... so good. Love the Deep Sea Blue paint. Trunk - Deep & Wide. Standard sound system, pretty darn good, and thats VERY important to me. A/C works very well even in Texas.

• 

  great little kia - 2010 Kia Forte
  By carleyd - November 21 - 11:16 am

  I got my kia when they first hit the Parkersburg lot, and I have loved it! I live in WV and we have had a lot snow this year and my forte goes great! The traction control has been a big help on icy conditions and all the extra features just add to the wonderfulness that is my forte. It is a bit rough over bumps, but thats most small cars Ive driven.

• 

  Good for the money - 2002 Kia Optima
  By RJimmis - November 21 - 2:00 am

  I traded it from a 6 month old Spectra. The Optima is twice the car. The SE also brings many comfortible features. The 2.4 is addiquatly acceptable (for 138 horses). Stopping is pretty good as well.

• 

  Time will tell - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By Skeptical at first - November 21 - 2:00 am

  I just paid $22,700 for a loaded Sedona EX, it has everything but the trailer hitch. After doing an unbelievable amount of research, this is the car that stuck out. For what you get, this is absolutely unbeatable. Price any other vehicle with leather, full electric, etc etc and the difference is very large. Time will tell, but if it turns out to be a reliable vehicle, then this car will have no equal.

• 

  Kia Rio - 2002 Kia Rio
  By The Cat - November 21 - 1:53 am

  I have had my car for almost four years and have not had any major problems with it. Outside of the routine maintenance, everything else has been just great.