Kia Motor Corporation (Hangul: 기아자동차; Hanja: 起亞自動車, IPA: [ki.a], literally “Kia automobile”; stylized as KIΛ), headquartered in Seoul, is South Korea’s second-largest automobile manufacturer, following the Hyundai Motor Company, with sales of over 3.3 million vehicles in 2015. As of December 2015, the Kia Motor Corporation is minority owned by Hyundai, which owns a 33.88% stake valued at just over $6 billion USD. Kia in turn is a minority owner of more than twenty Hyundai subsidiaries ranging from 4.9% up to 45.37% totaling more than $8.3 billion USD.
Etymology
According to Kia Motors, the name “Kia” derives from the Sino-Korean characters ki (起, “to come out”) and a (亞, which stands for (East) Asia), it is roughly translated as “to come out of the east.”
History
Kia was founded in December 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry, a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts, eventually producing Korea’s first domestic bicycle, the Samchully, in 1951.[1] In 1952, Kyungsung Precision Industry changed its name to Kia Industries,[5] and later built Honda-licensed small motorcycles (starting in 1957), Mazda-licensed trucks (1962) and cars (1974). The company opened its first integrated automotive assembly plant in 1973, the Sohari Plant.[6] Kia built the small Brisa range of cars until 1981, when production came to an end after the new military dictator Chun Doo-hwan enforced industry consolidation. This forced Kia to give up passenger cars and focus entirely on light trucks.[7] Prior to the forced 1981 shutdown, Kia rounded out its passenger car lineup with two other foreign models assembled under license: the Fiat 132[8][9] and the Peugeot 604.[10][11]
Starting in 1986 (when only 26 cars were manufactured, followed by over 95,000 the next year),[12] Kia rejoined the automobile industry in partnership with Ford. Kia produced several Mazda-derived vehicles for both domestic sales in South Korea and for export into other countries. These models included the Kia Pride, based on the Mazda 121, and the Avella, which were sold in North America and Australasia as the Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire.
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.[citation needed] Since then, Kia methodically expanded one region at a time. Dealers in 1994 sold the Sephia; and a few years later, the United States segment expanded their line with the addition of the Sportage. Over one hundred Kia dealerships existed across thirty states by 1995, selling a record 24,740 automobiles.
However, during the Asian financial crisis, Kia declared bankruptcy in 1997; and in 1998 reached an agreement with Hyundai Motor Company to diversify by exchanging ownership between both companies. Hyundai Motor Company acquired 51% of the company, outbidding Ford Motor Company which had owned an interest in Kia Motors since 1986.[14] After subsequent divestments,[15] Hyundai Motor Company owns about one third of Kia Motor Corporation. While Hyundai Motor Company remains Kia’s largest stakeholder, Kia Motor Company also retains ownership in some 22 different Hyundai Motor Company subsidiaries.[16]
Since 2005, Kia has focused on the European market and has identified design as its “core future growth engine”—leading to the hiring of Peter Schreyer in 2006 as chief design officer[17] and his subsequent creation of a new corporate grille known as the ‘Tiger Nose’.[18][19]
In October 2006, Kia Motors America broke ground for Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia in West Point, Georgia, representing a $1 billion USD investment for the company.[20] Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia opened in February 2010, after Kia recorded its 15th consecutive year of increased U.S. market share.[21]
In August 2014, the company received international attention when Pope Francis of the Catholic Church rode in one of their compact cars, the Kia Soul, during a five-day visit to South Korea.[22][23] The Kia Soul drew bigger attention than two other vehicles used by the Pope, their Kia Carnival and Hyundai’s Santa Fe, because it appeared in the high-profile welcoming ceremony of his arrival at the Seoul Airport on 14 August.[24][25]
In 2016, Kia Motors model reliability was ranked first in the United States by J.D. Power and Associates, becoming the first non-luxury automaker since 1989 to top that list.
Affiliations and subsidiaries
Hyundai Motor Company
As of December 31, 2015, the Hyundai Motor Company owns a 33.88% stake in Kia Motors.
Likewise, as of December 31, 2015, Kia Motors is owner in 22 different Hyundai companies. Its ownership percentages range from 4.9% up to 45.37%
Kia Motors Corporation
Kia Motors Corporation (KMC), founded in 1944, is South Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles and is now a subsidiary of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group. Over 1.5 million vehicles a year are produced in 13 manufacturing and assembly operations in eight countries. These are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 172 countries. Kia today has 40,000 full-time employees worldwide and annual revenues of over US$14.6 billion. Kia Motors Corporation’s brand slogan is “The Power to Surprise”. From August 2009 until December 2012, the company has been led by Hyoung-Keun (Hank) Lee.
Kia Motors America
Kia Motors America (KMA) is the American sales, marketing, and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles through more than 755 dealers throughout the United States. For 2008, KMA recorded its 14th consecutive year of increased U.S. market share.
In November 2009, Kia started production at the first U.S. Kia Motors plant, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, in West Point. As of December 2011, the facility was building the 2012 Kia Sorento crossover vehicle and the 2012 Kia Optima sedan. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Kia Motors America continues to top quality surveys and is recognized as one of the 100 Best Global Brands and 50 Best Global Green Brands by Interbrand.
Kia Motors Europe
Kia Motors Europe (KME) is the European sales and marketing division of Kia Motors Corporation (KMC). It has been selling cars in Europe since the first half of 1991. In 2007, KME moved from its previous location at Hauptstrasse 185, Eschborn (near Frankfurt), to a new purpose-built facility adjacent to the Messe, in Frankfurt city centre.
From 1995 to 1999, Kia produced left- and right-hand drive versions of the first generation Sportage SUV at the Karmann factory in Osnabrück, Germany. From 1999 until production of the model ceased in 2003, all Sportage production reverted to South Korea.
When Kia launched in Europe during 1991, it initially sold only the Pride supermini – a rebadged version of the late 1980s Mazda 121. It initially proved popular with buyers, but sales fell towards the end of the decade, and the end of production was finally announced in May 2000, with its successor — the Rio — not going on sale for another year.
By the end of 1991, Kia had sold nearly 1,800 Prides in the United Kingdom. The first full year, 1992, saw that figure double, and, in 1993, it increased again to nearly 5,500 units.
The European range expanded in the spring of 1994 when Kia began importing the larger Mentor, a range of medium-sized hatchbacks and sedans which were marketed as inexpensive and well-equipped alternatives to the likes of the Ford Escort and the Vauxhall/Opel Astra. A facelift in 1999 saw the Mentor name retained for the saloon (sedan), but the hatchback was renamed Shuma. These models remained on sale until 2004, when the newer Cerato was launched and gave Kia one of its first serious competitors against mainstream brands.
The Clarus saloon and Sedona MPV were also launched onto the UK market during 1999, helping Kia begin its rise in popularity.
The Sportage SUV range, first sold in 1995, has been popular across Europe, but, since 2002, Kia has gained more sales in this market thanks to the launch of the larger Sorento.
Despite Kia’s range increasing from one car as late as 1993 to three cars by the end of 1995, British sales actually decreased in that period, from nearly 5,500 in 1993 to less than 4,000 the following year. In 1998, Kia’s future in Britain was thrown into serious doubt when it sold less than 3,000 of its whole range – the worst in any full year on the British market.
Kia did not enter Europe’s large family car market until the launch of its Clarus four-door sedan in 1999 – a year behind schedule due to the financial difficulties that Kia was facing before it was taken over by Hyundai. This car was similar in size to the Ford Mondeo and the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra, but, on its launch, was actually less expensive to buy than the smaller Focus and the Astra. It had a spacious interior, large boot, competitive asking price, and high equipment levels, but it had little more appeal to sway buyers away from established European brands like Ford, Vauxhall/Opel and Peugeot. Its successor, the Magentis, launched in 2001, was still nowhere near as popular as Kia might have hoped it would be, although with a sub-£14,000 asking price it offered the cheapest V6-engined car in the UK, by which time it was rare enough for a six-cylinder car to be priced at less than £20,000.
Kia entered the MPV market in 1999 with the Sedona. On its launch, it was the lowest-priced, full-size people carrier on sale in the United Kingdom.
With the range expanded by 1999, sales for that year reached almost 6,400 – more than double the previous year’s total. That annual sales figure had almost been matched in 2000 by the end of May, reflecting Kia’s growing popularity with British buyers.[30] By 2009, Kia was firmly established as a popular brand in Britain, when sales broke the 50,000 barrier for the first time and the brand now had a share of more than 2% in the new car market. The Picanto was the most popular single model with nearly 17,000 sales.[31]
In late 2006, Kia opened its first own plant in Europe at a cost of approximately EUR 1.7 billion in Žilina, Slovakia, in the village of Teplička nad Váhom, after construction between October 2004 and December 2005. It has since produced over 2.5 million units of the Kia Cee’d, Kia Sportage and Kia Venga, as well as seven types of engines. In 2016, 339,500 cars and 612,915 engines were manufactured[32]. The area of the plant is 166 ha and Mobis Slovakia, the largest supplier, is situated right on the carmaker’s premises. As of December 31, 2016, 3,625 employees worked in the facility, while their average age was 35.[33] The relatively low number of employees working in three shifts is related to a high degree of automation as well as high integration with Mobis Slovakia. In 2016, Kia Motors Slovakia recorded revenue of EUR 5.56 billion.
Although the European car market knows significant difficulties, Kia announced increased sales in 2013.
Kia Motors Mexico
The company has built a $1 billion manufacturing plant in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León, which produces 300,000 cars a year. Details of the factory, built in the city of Pesquería, were revealed in a joint press conference given by Kia Motors CEO Hyoung-Keun Lee and the President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico City on 28 August 2014. The plant was expected to be completed in the first half of 2016.[35] This factory is involved in controversies because it was built on unevenly purchased land and the construction agreement was made with advantage conditions and out of the local dispositions to Kia.
Kia Motors India
The company is planning to enter the Indian market between 2019 and 2022[38]. Kia plans to offer 3 vehicles, including a mid-size SUV and a compact sedan. The company is currently building a production facility on a Greenfield land in Anantpur district, Andhra Pradesh. The expected annual production capacity is 300,000 units.
Kia Motors appoints Kookhyun Shim as MD & CEO.In his new role, Shim will be responsible for leading the carmaker’s expansion in the Indian market. Shim will play a leading role in ensuring KMI’s projected timeline and schedule of operations is achieved. He will also oversee the construction of Kia Motor’s first manufacturing facility in India, to help strengthen the company’s position in the fifth largest global automotive market. Kia has committed investments to the tune of $2 billion to develop operations in India.
Kia Defense
Kia Motors has specialized in the production of military vehicles with variants and other transportation equipment and by supplying them as a sole maker of military vehicles designated by the South Korean Government since 1976, when Kia Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (now known as Hyundai Wia) was established. Kia is currently designing a Kaiser Jeep M715-type vehicle named the KM450 for the South Korean Army on license from the U.S. Government. Kia is also the owner of the former ex-Asia Motors factory at Gwangju.
Models
Passenger cars
Cadenza/K7
Cee’d/Cee’d SW/pro_cee’d
Forte/Cerato/K3
Forte Koup
K9/K900/Quoris
Optima/Magentis/K5
Picanto/Morning
Ray
Rio/Rio5/Pride
Soul
Stinger
Stonic
SUVs and vans
Carens/Rondo
Carnival/Sedona
Mohave/Borrego
Sorento
Sportage
Pregio
Commercial vehicles
AM928 – KMC only
Granbird – KMC only
Bongo, also sold as K2700/Strong/3000S/2500TCI
K4000s – KMC only
Hybrid electric vehicles
Kia cee’d Hybrid
Kia Niro Hybrid Utility Vehicle
Kia Ray Plug-in hybrid
Kia Soul EV
Kia Optima Hybrid
KIA CAR MODEL
Kia RIO
Rio PRIDE
Kia Rio 5p
KIA Soul
Kia cee’d
KIA OPTIMA
WELLY – Kia Optima K5
KIA ALL NEW K7
KIA Sportage
Kia Sorento
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