All about Kia Motors

Kia started as a small bicycle parts maker in 1944 in Seoul, Korea. Later it joined hands with Hyundai to become one of its subsidiaries and now we think that by 2015 it will be the biggest hybrid car manufacturer in the world. Let us see how and when the company made big, as we peep into its history and take a look at its present line up.

About the Company

Today the company is Korea’s oldest motor vehicle manufacturer and produces many vehicles for the younger generation all across the globe. Kia is also official automotive partner of Fifa, which is the governing body of the FIFA World Cup, thus the company’s presence can be felt around World Cup and UEFA tournaments. Every year the company manufactures 1.5million vehicles, which is sufficient for 172 countries all across the world.

Company’s Mission

The brand’s slogan says “The Power to Surprise”, which means outdoing customer’s expectation by doing continuous research and innovation.

A Peep into the History

The company was founded in 1944, when it produced steel tubes and other bicycle parts. The company’s name in Chinese means “to arise, to come up out of Asia.” In early 1950s the company manufactured its first bicycle and later it also got into producing motor scooters like C100.

In ’60 the Korean firm started getting motorcycles and 3 wheel transports vehicles. Soon in early 1970s, the company entered into the field of automotives. The auto maker built the first ever automotive manufacturing facility, the Sohari plant.

Next year the first ever Kia car was released called, Brisa. Within a span of 7-8 years the company’s technology got recognized worldwide and auto majors like Fiat and Peugeot started making use of its technology in its models.

In the next decade, Kia came up with models like Capital, Pride, Potentia, Avella and Concord. Few years later Ford imported both Avella and Pride and sold them in US as Aspire and Festive respectively.

By early ‘90s Kia entered US market to make itself global and released Sephia. The model did modest business. Soon came the age and craze of SUVs, looking at which the company rolled out Sportage SUV in 1995. By the end of ‘90s Kia had a dealer in every American state apart from 1 or 2.

In late ‘90s the company went into a lean phase, when Hyundai took over the company in 1998. Since then, there has been no looking back for the model both in terms of build quality and innovation. Kia’s new warranty programs have also reinstated the faith in the customer. Today the company offers a wide range of sedan, SUVs and coupes.

Model Line Up

Cars

• Soul



• Cerato



• Picanto



• Rio



• Cee’d



• Optima



• Cadenza

SUV and MPV

• Venga



• Carens/Rondo



• Carnival/Sedona



• Sportage



• Sorento



• Mohave/Borrego

Commercial Vehicles

• K2700/K3000S/K2500



• K4000S



• K4000G



Kia more or less caters to the economy class users and most of its vehicles are priced below the rival models, and offers a great value by offering a long list of features for too less.