History

Kia was founded in 1944, making it South Korea's oldest car company. It later produced several Mazda models under licence, including the Pride (based on the 121) and Avella, which were sold in North America and Australasia as the Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire. The name "Kia" (기아, 起亞) roughly translates as "Arising from Asia" in Korean and Chinese characters.

In 1992, Kia Motors America was incorporated in the United States. The first Kia-branded vehicles in the United States were sold from four dealerships in Portland, Oregon in February 1994. Since then, Kia expanded methodically one region at a time. Dealers in 1994 sold the Sephia, and a few years later the United States line expanded with the addition of the Sportage.

Kia's stragedy of moving into the US market region-by-region prooved extremely successful and set a model for entering the US market. In less than a decade, Kia surpassed even their most generous sales expecations to become a significant player in the US auto market.

Kia's troubles in 1997 helped to push South Korea into the Asian financial crisis, and it was acquired in 1998 by the Hyundai Motor Company. Hyundai resisted this move but were forced by the Korean government to take over Kia as part of the strategy to fix Korea's financial crisis.

Despite being taken over by Hyundai, Kia vehicles remain less reliable than those from competitors. Kia's sales rely largely on ten-year powertrain warranties. Kia has consistently ranked last on J.D. Power and Associates durability index. In recent years however, Kia has worked to improve the reliabilty of their vehicles and for one year (2004), it improved to second to last, besting Land Rover. However, in 2005, Kia regained its traditional title as the least durable.