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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  LOVING IT - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By CONNIE T - September 4 - 10:00 am

  LOOKS LIKE THE LEXUS SUV...ONE CLOSE-UP PEEK INSIDE THE LUXURIOUS INTERIOR AND YOU WILL BE HOOKED TOO!

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  2005 Sportage - Love It! - 2005 Kia Sportage
  By J. Cannon - September 1 - 3:36 pm

  We bought this as our main family car & just happened to look at the Kias. We were also looking at Vues, RAV4s, and CR-Vs. The Kia provided the best interior space & features that we enjoyed. Our 2 kids have plenty of room. The drive is comfortable & the car feels almost indestructible ... try it, open the door and slam it! It sounds solid! The Sportage provides all the creature comforts we want but still feels a bit rigid (which we like). We currentlyget 27 mpg on highway & 23 on city, not too bad. For a small SUV it does fine in mpg. We definitely do not regret getting the Sportage. The price was great & the quality was better than the others. The standard features are perfect.

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  Great Fuel Economy, and Fun! - 2012 Kia Soul
  By kamiller1991 - August 30 - 8:06 pm

  I fell in love with this car when I saw it on the commercials, and to actual find out that its fun to drive and gets great gas mileage when I actual went to look at it was AWESOME! It has plenty of room in the trunk for my two dogs (Labrador and a Pug) so I dont have to worry about fur on the seats. It also has plenty of room to load of the baby and the husband! I have been able to get up to 41mpg on the highway (going 55mph, not really highway, high speed back roads) and anywhere from 32mpg-35mpg city. The only thing I do not like about the car is the clutch stick when youre on a hill, I tend to gun it because I forget it kicks in. Other than that, GREAT car!

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  love it but hate it - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By max2000 - August 26 - 2:00 am

  Love our new kia, drives great , and rides great, love to upgrades it has also,, hate it because i have a rattle from the rear seats that no one seems to know how to fix it??? any opinions? if so please email me,, max2000here@aol.com when we brought it home we loved it, no we are starting to hate it

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  Sorento vs Lexus - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By El Fiebru - August 22 - 2:00 am

  I am very happy with the Kia Sorento that I recently purchased. Is a great vehicle, in my opinion we can compare this with a Lexus but better price!! Great performance and value, the Koreans should be happy with this product. The only problem is that dealers are in need of more familiarization with Korean products, specialy after market parts or accessories! Overall the Sorento is a great buy!!!

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  Nice Little car w/a price U CANT beat! - 2002 Kia Rio
  By David-WI - August 21 - 10:00 am

  I REALLY like this little car. Plus I COULDNT pass up on the price either. Granted it is a little 4cyl car but it has nearly everything you need at a base model price. I paid 12K even for this car and got nearly everything I wanted. I had the dealer install after market cruise and I am set!! The A/C works just fine, it has a roomy hatch and it looks great!!! All for 12K!! How can you go wrong????

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  Bulb Replacement II - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Andy - August 21 - 8:13 am

  I stopped counting the number of headlight & taillights Ive replaced. Ive had several warranty repairs and each one was a LONG wait for parts to come in from overseas. One dealership I took it to did every thing but roll out the red carpet. Unfortunately, the one I purchased it from, which is 50 miles closer to me, has not been so accommodating. For the money, I have no regrets. But I will stay away from Kia in the future due to the servicing of their warranty.

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  2 months of ownership - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By Norm Sheldrake - August 17 - 11:23 pm

  The over all car has been great however the seat ratchet device has been a problem since purchase, The company has a new seat ordered and have to set up a time to replace it. All the tires are mounted on Aluminum alloy wheels; they are awesome however both the right tires have been losing air and have had to be reinflated on a daily basis. there is what appears to be a brake caliper noise in the left front wheel are since first purchasing the vehicle in June up to the present of july , 19th 2005. I started off with getting 23 MPG. it went up to 40 MPG. after having it in the garage for check up the mileage has deteriorated to 28 MPG. Overall, I truly love the vehicle.

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  36000 miles - 2010 Kia Soul
  By doc - August 17 - 3:06 am

  Best econo-box on the road. Love everything except: front seats too narrow and firm. Bad blind spot at rear small window. Almost got two accidents. And Im a great driver. VERY disappointing gas mileage. This was a surprise. Still best bang for the buck.

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  Dodge Guy Turned Kia Guy - 2018 Kia Rio
  By Kenneth - August 8 - 12:51 am

  Ive owned Dodge all of my life.. I looked at Kia because of the Warranty and Im so happy I did. Car is built solid, when I close the doors or trunk you can tell its built tough. Love the fact they added more steel making the overall structure a safer ride. Im enjoying the fuel economy and the fun feel of the sporty hatchback. Im really happy with my 2018 Rio 5Door .