Kia History

Kia has been in existence since 1944, yet the company didn't start selling cars here in the States until 1994. As is the case today with Chinese manufacturers, Americans initially viewed Korean-based Kia with a bit of skepticism, but the appeal of the $8,500 Kia Sephia proved irresistible for a number of shoppers. Following the Sephia was the Kia Sportage, a small and affordable SUV packed with available four-wheel drive. That little rig lives on today, though it has been redesigned since originally being introduced in 1995.

During the next several years, the lineup consisted only of the Kia Sportage and Kia Sephia, but after Hyundai took control of the company in 1999 the number of models grew quickly. By 2001, the Sportage and Sephia were accompanied by the Kia Rio, the Kia Spectra5, the Kia Optima, and the Kia Sedona minivan. Three years after that, the ranks had filled out with the addition of the five-door Kia Rio5, the Kia Sorento SUV, and the Kia Amanti sedan. The Kia Rondo went on sale in 2007 in response to cars like the Mazda5, the Kia Borrego arrived in 2009 to belatedly supply dwindling large SUV demand, and the Kia Soul came just in time to battle the Nissan Cube for sales. The launch of the Soul coincided with the Spectra's successor, the Kia Forte.