About KIA SUVs

In 1995, Kia Motors met the world craze for high-powered four-wheel drives with its Sportage model. But the South Korean automaker had its own plan to make its sport vehicles stand out from the competition. Despite encountering a few obstacles along the way, Kia finally made its mark with top safety-improvement rates that left its competitors behind, even in the United States.

History

Kia Motors (Kia Motors America), established in 1944 as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycles, is South Korea's oldest and second-most important car company. Now a subsidiary of Hyundai Kia Automotive Group after having gone bankrupt in 1977, Kia has produced several sport-utility vehicles (SUVs).

Time Frame

Kia Motors introduced its SUV the Sportage in 1995. It was discontinued in 2002, but its second generation arrived in 2005 in the form of Kia's first crossover SUV: The Kia Carens began production in 1999, and was introduced to the U.S. market in 2007 as the Kia Rondo. That same year, the Kia Carnival--known as Sedona in the U.S.--began production as a minivan. The first generation of the Kia Sorento made its debut in 2003, boasting four-wheel disc brakes and a battery-saving component. In 2008, Kia's Mohave model--the Borrego in the U.S.--was made available to the public. (It had been introduced as a concept car named the Mesa at the 2005 North American International Auto Show.)

Types

The Kia Rondo is classified in Europe as a compact multipurpose vehicle (MPV) due to the greater flexibility it exhibits--as typified by features like folding and removable seats--compared to other SUVs in its class . In the United States, the Rondo competed with microvans in the auto market, rather than other SUVs.

Features

The Kia Sportage came to the auto market with two- and four-door soft-top convertible options. Discontinued worldwide in 2003, it returned in 2005. Among the standard features of the Kia Carens/Rondo are 16-inch alloy wheels, AM/FM CD player, air conditioning, power windows and door locks, front/side/full-length side curtain airbags, 4-wheel disc brakes, ABS and Electronic Stability Control. In 2006, Kia's second-generation Sedona came to the auto market, with 60/40 fold flat seats, power sliding doors, backup sensors and other features.

Considerations

Though Kia's Sportage was the first vehicle in the world to be equipped with knee airbags, its first generation of production (1995 to 2002) was not terribly popular. It was even recalled a couple of times because of complaints that the model's rear wheels were falling apart on the road.

Significance

Following these complaints, Kia Motors made significant safety improvements to its production line. In 2006, its second-generation Kia Sedona won top honors in safety from the U. S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) based on the results of frontal and side-impact crash tests. In 2007, Kia's Sorento also won the NHTSA's top safety rating in such tests, as well as being named "Best Minivan" by MotorWeek magazine.

Resources

• Kia Motors page at Wikipedia