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Kia Corporation was founded in 1944 as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts. The company produced South Korea's first bicycle in 1951 and first motorcycle in 1957, before entering the automotive industry in 1974 with the Kia Brisa, a small car built under license from Mazda.
Kia built small cars and commercial vehicles through the 1970s and 1980s, but the 1997 Asian financial crisis pushed the company into bankruptcy. Hyundai Motor Group acquired a controlling stake in 1998, creating the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group (now Hyundai Motor Group), while Kia maintained its own brand identity and design direction.
Under the Hyundai Motor Group, Kia underwent a dramatic transformation. The hiring of Peter Schreyer as chief design officer in 2006, formerly of Audi and Volkswagen, gave Kia a distinctive design language with the Tiger Nose grille. The brand has since moved upmarket, producing visually striking vehicles like the Stinger, Telluride, and EV6 that compete directly with mainstream and near-premium brands.
The Kia EV6 (2021) was the first Kia model built on the Hyundai Motor Group E-GMP platform, offering 800-volt charging and a 0-to-60 mph time of 3.4 seconds in GT trim, making it one of the quickest production cars under $100,000.
Kia introduced the first production multi-chamber air suspension on a mainstream SUV with the 2019 Telluride, allowing individual wheel-height adjustment for improved ride and off-road capability.
The Kia Stinger (2017) was a rear-wheel-drive sports sedan with a twin-turbo V6, developed under the code name CK and intended as a halo car to change perceptions of the brand. While commercially modest, it succeeded in establishing Kia performance credentials.
Kia was one of the first mainstream brands to offer a comprehensive suite of advanced driver-assistance systems as standard equipment across most of its lineup through the Kia Drive Wise package.
The Kia Niro (2016) was one of the first production vehicles offered simultaneously in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and full electric variants on the same platform, giving buyers a choice of electrification levels.
Kia was founded in Seoul as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts under the name Kyungsung Precision Industry.
The Kia Brisa, a small car built under license from Mazda, became Kia first passenger vehicle.
Hyundai Motor Company acquired a majority stake in Kia following the Asian financial crisis, forming what would become the Hyundai Motor Group.
Peter Schreyer, former Audi design chief, joined Kia as design director and created the Tiger Nose grille that defined the brand visual identity.
The EV6, Kia first dedicated electric vehicle on the E-GMP platform, won European Car of the Year in 2022.
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