Kia vehicle research

Kia Corporation is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second-largest automobile manufacturer, after its parent company, Hyundai Motor Company, with global sales of over 3.1 million vehicles in 2025. Hyundai Motor Company is Kia’s largest shareholder, holding 35.17% of the company as of 2025; Hyundai Motor Company and related parties together hold 36.99%.

History

Kia was founded in May 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry, a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts, eventually producing South Korea's first domestic bicycle, the Samchuly, in 1951. In 1952, Kyungsung Precision Industry changed its name to Kia Industries. The company later built Honda-licensed small motorcycles (starting in 1957), as well as Mazda-licensed trucks (1962).

Lineup

Kia entered the U.S. market in late 1993 for the 1994 model year with just two models, the Sephia sedan and Sportage SUV, sold through four dealerships in Portland, Oregon; the brand now sells through more than 755 U.S. dealers and was ranked J.D. Power's highest mass-market brand for initial quality five years running from 2015 to 2019, part of an 18-consecutive-year streak of rising U.S. market share through 2013. Kia opened its first U.S. plant in West Point, Georgia in 2009, initially building only the Sorento crossover before adding the mid-size sedan now sold as the K5 in 2011 and the three-row Telluride in 2019; that single plant had built over 3 million vehicles across those three models by late 2019. The current lineup uses the same size-and-role logic across sedans (Forte, K5, K8) and crossovers/SUVs (Seltos, Sportage, Sorento, Telluride), with the Stinger, since discontinued, having briefly given Kia a rear-wheel-drive performance sedan positioned above its mainstream cars. Kia has layered a dedicated EV sub-line, badged EV6 and EV9, on top of that gas lineup rather than converting existing nameplates, following the same electric-specific-platform approach as sibling brand Hyundai's Ioniq line.

Facilities

Beginning in 2006 Kia identified design as its "core future growth engine" – leading to the 2006 hiring of Peter Schreyer and to the 2005 hiring Tom Kearns as Chief Design Officer. Schreyer had previously worked at Audi (designing the Audi TT) and Volkswagen and had won the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Controversies

In late 2012, Kia Motors was forced to admit error in inflating its United States Environmental Protection Agency mileage claims and had to reduce its fuel economy claims in the U.S. by about 3 percent across the board and to offer compensation to previous vehicle buyers.

Source: Kia (Wikipedia)