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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  Family Transportation Done Right - 2015 Kia Sedona
  By M F Roe - June 4 - 10:26 am

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  WOW WHAT A CAR! - 2012 Kia Optima
  By beafantoo - June 4 - 6:08 am

  I am 62 weigh 315 lbs and this car wows me to no end. Great looking car, great comfortable car, very nice styling. My car has the tech package and nav..I would recommend this car to everybody.. I am getting about 27.8 mpg with most of my driving in the city, I purchased the car 3 weeks ago and have put 1000. miles on it already, very responsive around turns with great handling. Very fast for a 4cyl. you wont go wrong buying this car..

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  A dream to drive... love my Optima! - 2011 Kia Optima
  By trainer1366 - June 3 - 9:50 pm

  A Dark Cherry EX with the Premium package. It is taking me a while to get used to the length --I feel like Im in a full size car. The car receives a lot of attention! Comments like, "What kind of sports car is this? Lexus IS, ES or Jag? Peter S. and the KIA design team dialed up the heat and produced the best looking sedan on the road. Hands down.

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  This car rocks!! - 2007 Kia Optima
  By Dano - June 3 - 3:53 am

  I have had this car for about 5 months and have almost 10000 miles on it. I am a big guy and I found the room and comfort to be very surprising. I chose the 4 cyl. over the 6 because I found it to be more sporty and responsive than the 6 which seemed a little laggy to me. The interior styling and the heavy resemblance to the Lexus at well under half the price is a big plus. If this car performs over the long run as I expect I will definetly be a longtime Kia customer.

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  Deceiving - 2001 Kia Sephia
  By Blaze - June 3 - 2:00 am

  Thought I was getting a great deal. After the first year everything went downhill. My car has had a new transmission, a new alternator, and now theyre not sure if it needs a new starter or what. Great warrantey except it takes a week for them to figure out what is wrong with it. Also, if the least little thing hits the car (rock,etc.) it leaves major dents. My mother ownen a differnt Kia and traded it in after 3 months due to problems it had. Please, some one take this peice of junk!

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  ILUVMYSORENTO - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By JayneM - June 3 - 2:00 am

  A good buying experience ended in a good purchase. Good quality SUV. I did all the research possible before buying. I would finish the salespersons sentences, I could probably sell them myself. I was very confident going into this buy with all the knowledge possible. It is a great looking SUV. I get a lot of looks driving it. I love all the special features. Mine is semi-loaded, with leather interiors and the wood-grain package. Window visors and bug- deflector finish off the look.

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  Id never even considered a Kia Soul ! - 2016 Kia Soul
  By Alec Little - June 2 - 12:12 pm

  I bought my Kia Soul ! about a month ago. My wife has always driven larger SUVs and Ive driven a 4-door Pickup truck for the past 10-years. I fully expected the Soul to have sluggish pickup and I expected to be bounced around like in any lightweight economy vehicle. Let me tell you, this car is comfortable, it has plenty of pep (2.0L) and is fun to drive. Im particularly pleased with the quality of the materials and workmanship in the car. Plus this Soul! has more electronics than I have ever had in my previous luxury vehicles. I was so impressed that I purchased the extended bumper-to-bumper warranty which I have never done before. I had driven my pickup for 10-years and if my impressions prove correct, Ill be driving this just as long.

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  2013 SX - 2013 Kia Sorento
  By CD - June 1 - 11:59 am

  SX model. Nice car, comfortable front seats. tight second and third row leather seating. Road noise is more than other comparably equipped SUVs thru windows and doors. Ride is a little stiff, but very nice overall. nice handling, turns tight One iratating flaw, backup camer is offset 4 inches to left of center, makes parking or hooking up to a trailer is difficult. I traded the car in sept after 5 years owning it for a new Jeep that could tow more. somebody got a great family car.

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  Satisfied - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By kat - June 1 - 3:46 am

  We purchased this vehicle to replace one that was getting old and was starting to need a lot of maintenance. We werent necessarily looking for a minivan but found one we thought wed like to test drive. The dealer let us have it over night and we were very impressed with the Sedona. The warranty package was very important and we also liked what we were getting in the vechicle for the price. I think we made a good choice in the Sedona. I would have liked the anti-lock brakes to come on the base model and for the take off from a stop to not be so sluggish but other than that I really enjoy owning my Sedona.

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  2005 KIA SEDONA LX - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By DIANNA - May 31 - 11:46 pm

  THIS IS THE BEST MINIVAN I HAVE EVER DRIVEN. IT HAS GREAT PICK UP AND HAS GREAT GAS MILEAGE FOR A MINIVAN. I LOVE TO DRIVE IT SO MUCH THAT I NOW ASK TO PICK THINGS UP FROM THE STORE OR TAKE ANYONE ANYWHERE THEY NEED TO GO. IT IS EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE AND MY FAMILY LOVES IT AS MUCH AS I DO. BY THE WAY THIS IS THE FIRST BRAND NEW VEHICLE I HAVE EVER OWNED IN MY 35 YEARS OF DRIVING. I HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS VEHICLE TO EVERYONE. I AM A SINGLE GRANDMOTHER THAT LOVES TO TAKE HER GRANDCHILDREN EVERYWHERE SO AS YOU CAN SEE I DRIVE IT A LOT.