Kia was founded in Korea in 1944 primarily as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts. The name Kia has roots in Chinese meaning to arise or come up out of Asia. By the early 1950′s, the company had produced Korea’s first bicycle and by the end of the decade, they had branched out to motor scooters. In the 1960′s, Kia expanded to motorcycles and 3 wheeled cargo vehicles. The next logical step was automobiles which the company began manufacturing by the 1970′s. By the mid to late 80′s, Kia had an expansive lineup of models which it sold domestically. In 1987, Ford brought one such model, the Kia Pride to the US market and rebadged it the Ford Festiva. Kia’sAvella was also imported and rebadged the Ford Aspire. Kia began selling into the US market under its own name by the 1990′s however, financial pressures by the late 90′s constricted the brand from expanding and introducing new models. Hyundai acquired the company in 1998 and helped to assist Kia in introducing several new models. Kia now has something to offer virtually every budget-minded buyer in the U.S. market. Kia has been on an upswing since its purchase by Hyundai, with improvements in build quality and overall refinement. Reliability had previously been a weak point, but improvements in that area and the initiation of a substantial warranty program in 2001, similar to that of Hyundai, have bolstered the company’s reputation with consumers.
Autoblog Kia
Autoblog Kia
Kia releases second Track’Ster teaser ahead of Chicago debut Monday, 6 February 2012, 6:01 pm
Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Concept Cars, Hatchback, Kia, Design/Style
Kia has officially dropped new teaser for its Chicago-bound Track’Ster concept. Word has it the new hatch will be based largely on the company’s Soul five-door, though with a few notable tweaks. For starters, designers scrapped the rear doors for more of a hot hatch look. A new front fascia looks to be part of the recipe as well, and odds are the Track’Ster will rock suitably outrageous wheels befitting a true concept.
But will it come to production? It’s hard telling. As you may recall, the Soul has been a go-to favorite as a concept platform in the past. Kia showed off the beach-going Soul’ster concept at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and while the vehicle generated enormous buzz, the economic slowdown put a stop to any production plans. Still, with corporate cousin Hyundai rocking the Veloster, there may be room in the Kia stable for a performance hatch.
The Track’Ster Concept will make its official debut later this week.
Kia releases second Track’Ster teaser ahead of Chicago debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog Kia | Zach Bowman
Wagons West: Domestics picked up market share in California last year Friday, 3 February 2012, 7:01 pm
Filed under: Car Buying, Ford, GM, Honda, Jeep, Kia, Toyota, Earnings/Financials
Most days, California must seem like Kazakhstan for the Big Three. Domestic products aren’t so popular out West, where Toyota and Honda have long stood atop the sales charts. But not in 2011.
According to a report in Automotive News, both General Motors and Ford managed to bump Honda from its silver medal position in 2011, though Toyota still holds a commanding market share lead. In a storyline we’ve heard before, the twin natural disasters in Asia curbed Japanese production, causing a 4.5 point loss of market share. Toyota’s market share dropped from 22.8 to 19.2 percent, while GM and Ford tied at 12.6 percent – ahead of Honda at 12.1.
Booming sales in the Golden State helped the domestics to their 1.8 point gain. New vehicle registrations in California were up 9.9 percent, according to the report. The biggest sales gains last year were made by Kia and Jeep, which were up 53 and 49 percent, respectively.
Wagons West: Domestics picked up market share in California last year originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog Kia | Jeff Sabatini
Kia debuts Adriana Lima-infused Super Bowl ad Thursday, 2 February 2012, 5:25 pm
Filed under: Sedan, Marketing/Advertising, Kia, Celebrities
Kia has been spending big on Super Bowl advertising for a few years now, but its commercials have been hit or miss. Its ad for the big game in 2010 entitled “Joyride” was a hit for bringing toys from our childhood to life behind the wheel of a Sorento, but last year’s “One Epic Ride” was a definite miss. Kia’s ad for this year’s Super Bowl, called “A Dream Car. For Real Life,” will likely be a hit.
The premise is simple: A fairy who visits bedsides with magic dust that guarantees good dreams accidentally trips over a slipper and spills his whole bucket of sprinkles on an unsuspecting, demographically targeted and non-threateningly handsome 30-something man. The resulting indulgent dream stars Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima, 80′s hair band Mötley Crüe (looking a little worse for wear, we might add) and UFC fighter Chuck Liddell. There’s also a school bus-sized sub sandwich being cut in half by lumberjacks and a roaring crowd of thousands of bikini-wearing beauties.
In the midst of all this REM-induced revelry is the Kia Optima, because what other car would your subconscious pick to impress Ms. Lima?
Kia has also published a five-hour-long video of Adriana Lima waving a checkered flag in slow motion on YouTube, because hey, if you’ve got her on set for the day, why not? Follow the jump to watch them both.
Continue reading Kia debuts Adriana Lima-infused Super Bowl ad
Kia debuts Adriana Lima-infused Super Bowl ad originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog Kia | John Neff
Kia renders Track’ster concept for Chicago Thursday, 2 February 2012, 2:58 pm
Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Concept Cars, Budget, Wagon, Hatchback, Kia, Design/Style
Things are shaping up nicely for next week’s Chicago Auto Show, key among them this new Kia concept called Track’ster. Riffing on the Korean automaker’s hit Soul compact, the Track’ster keeps much of the small car’s boxy style, but turns the wick up considerably by scrubbing the rear doors, fitting a gaping front end, substituting massive showcar wheels and dramatically lowering the right height.
This isn’t the first time Kia has toyed with the idea of a Soul spinoff – at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, it presented the Soul’ster, a rough-and-tumble concept vehicle with a small pickup bed. Thanks to a strong response from the public, the Soul’ster was understood to be under consideration for production, but its hopes reportedly fizzled due to the economic meltdown.
Despite being on the market since 2008, the Soul continues to pick up momentum in chunks. Thanks in part to a refresh for 2012 that addresses hopes for more powerful drivetrains, the Soul has emerged as one of Kia’s best sellers – last month, it was only slightly outdistanced by the Optima midsize sedan, and it’s outpacing Sorrento, which was Kia’s best-seller last year.
Will Kia finally pull the trigger on a Soul variant? We should know more after the Track’ster makes the show circuit rounds.
Kia renders Track’ster concept for Chicago originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog Kia | Chris Paukert
Analysts: U.S. automakers will lose marketshare in 2012 Tuesday, 31 January 2012, 9:00 pm
Filed under: Car Buying, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota
Domestic automakers have much to be happy about, with Chrysler, Ford and General Motors all gaining market share last year for the first time since 1988. Yet according to Bloomberg, 2012 won’t be as good to Detroit. Total sales are projected to grow from 12.8 million vehicles last year to 13.6 million, according to the report, but increasing competition from Korea and a Japanese recovery from the natural disasters of 2011 mean those extra sales aren’t likely headed to the Big Three.
The news agency spoke to five analysts, and predictions have the U.S. automakers losing 1.3 percentage points this year. The analysts estimate that GM will drop 0.6 of a percent, Ford will lose 0.5 percent, and Chrysler will be down 0.2 percent. Toyota is seen gaining 0.9 percent, with Honda grabbing an extra 0.5 percent, while Hyundai and Kia are only projected to see their combined market share improve by 0.01.
If all this comes true, GM would have the top market share in the U.S. at 19 percent, with Ford in second at 16.3 percent, followed by Toyota at 13.8 percent, Chrysler at 10.5 percent, and Honda at 9.5 percent.
Analysts: U.S. automakers will lose marketshare in 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog Kia | Jeff Sabatini
Infographic: Which automakers gave the biggest discounts? Sunday, 29 January 2012, 9:33 pm
Filed under: Car Buying, Infiniti, Jeep, Kia, Mitsubishi
Business was a-boomin’ in the auto industry last year, and while a number of factors conspired to keep cars moving through dealerships, chief among them was discounts. How do we know that? This infographic contains part of the answer.
Compiled using data from car-shopping website CarWoo!, the infographic tells us which automakers gave the most discounts last year, where they were given, who got them, and more. Which automaker doled out the most discounts? Jeep, which CarWoo! says was selling its vehicles at a 17.7-percent discount in 2011. Which automaker also posted the largest percentage gain in sales last year? Jeep, whose sales jumped over 44 percent compared to 2010.
Mitsubishi and Kia, which posted the second and third largest percent increases in sales last year, also make CarWoo!’s list by having offered high discounts of 11.7 and 12.1 percent in 2011.
Big savings didn’t always equal big sales, though. Infiniti, for instance, is on record offering discounts of 12.2 percent in 2011, but still saw its sales fall 4.8 percent.
Check out the rest of what CarWoo!’s infographic has to say about savings after the jump.
Continue reading Infographic: Which automakers gave the biggest discounts?
Infographic: Which automakers gave the biggest discounts? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog Kia | John Neff
NADA: Dealers most happy with Hyundai, Subaru and Lexus Saturday, 28 January 2012, 9:03 pm
Filed under: Car Buying, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru
Car dealers have a strange and oftentimes contentious relationship with the carmakers. Stories of automakers shoveling unsaleable models down the pipeline with unreasonable expectations are legion in the car sales world. With the number of family-owned, single-brand dealerships dwindling, dealers often field competing franchises. The concept of loyalty is as quaint as a Lincoln Town Car. So it’s worth noting the automotive brands that are actually liked by the guys selling them.
The National Automobile Dealers Association conducts its Dealer Attitude Survey twice each year, and results from the summer survey are in. Hyundai stayed on top for the third time in a row, followed by Subaru, Lexus, Kia, and Mercedes-Benz. The survey measures three factors: “franchise value, automaker policy decisions that affect the dealership and the automaker’s field staff who visit dealerships.”
Sixth place went to Toyota, while Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi followed. Cadillac and Honda tied for tenth. NADA received responses from over 14,700 dealerships, representing almost 54 percent of all dealers nationwide.
Click past the jump to read the full press release.
Continue reading NADA: Dealers most happy with Hyundai, Subaru and Lexus
NADA: Dealers most happy with Hyundai, Subaru and Lexus originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog Kia | Jeff Sabatini
2009 Kia Model Lineup
- 2009 Kia Sportage
- 2009 Kia Sorento
- 2009 Kia Sedona
- 2009 Kia Borrego
- 2009 Kia Spectra 5
- 2009 Kia Spectra
- 2009 Kia Rondo
- 2009 Kia Rio 5
- 2009 Kia Rio
- 2009 Kia Optima
- 2009 Kia Amanti
