Category: Kia

The AutoPacific 2014 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards objectively measure owner satisfaction with 50 separate attributes ranging from interior comfort and convenience to fuel economy and performance. “Vehicles that score highest in the Vehicle Satisfaction Awards are delivering value and satisfaction across a wide range of attributes,” says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific. “The winners perform well in 50 separate categories that objectively measure the ownership experience.” An industry benchmark for measuring how satisfied an owner is with his/her new vehicle, AutoPacific’s VSA are based on the results of responses from over 92,000 new vehicle owners.

AutoPacific's Vice President of Industry Analysis has always had an affinity for small cars with a performance personality and a load of equipment. Our recent week-long evaluation of the 2014 Kia Forte5 SX seems to fit his requirements. The Forte5 SX is a front wheel drive five-door hatchback that provides a lot of utility for a small family. Its useful interior package is wrapped in a very nice looking and sporty skin.

We at AutoPacific have just completed a week's worth of driving the Thailand-built Mitsubishi Mirage. Now we know what drivers in a third world country experience when they drive locally assembled cars. And we don't like it much. Mirage is not Mitsubishi's best effort. At $15,990 for the car we drove, it seems a bit steep.

Only 37% of hybrid owners are extremely satisfied with power and acceleration compared with 40% of small car owners. This might be expected since these products are biased toward maximum fuel economy usually at the expense of spirited driving.

The all new 2013 Honda Accord is Honda's most important vehicle EVER. That's right, EVER! It comes after lackluster reviews of the latest cost-reduced mind-numbing Civic. It enters the mid-size car product segment where the oldest high volume competitor was launched as a 2011 model in early 2010 (Hyundai Sonata) and each new model is more impressive than the one that came before it... Toyota Camry, Kia Optima, Volkswagen Passat, Nissan Altima, the coming-soon Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Malibu and next year's Mazda6. Each new mid-size entry is better, more finessed, more technologically capable and available with a wider range of features than ever before. The question is "Did Honda bring their 'A Game' to the 2013 Accord, or is it another misstep like the Civic?" Bring their "A Game"? Wow, did they! This Accord is a take-no-prisoners attempt by Honda to reclaim leadership in the premium mid-size car class. With this car, Honda appears to have its MOJO back!

Traditionally, the mid-size car class has had relatively bland styling. That changed with the launch of the 2011 Sonata in early 2010 where over half of the buyers indicated that exterior styling was extremely important in their selection of the car. Sonata's swoopy styling broke the mid-size car mold. The 2011 Kia Optima that followed the Sonata is strikingly handsome in its own EuroKorean way. Toyota stayed very conservative with its new 2012 entry and Honda is rumored to have continued its very conservative streak with the next generation Accord coming this fall. The 2013 Ford Fusion is another game changer in the mold of Sonata and Optima, but even with Fusion's advanced styling, Altima may have pushed the envelope the farthest.

Adding the Hybrid model to the Optima lineup gives Kia a price-efficient, fuel-efficient combatant in the growing fuel economy battleground among mid-size cars. The all new Kia Rio entry level car has a front seat package that rivals a mid-size car. Folks are no longer "sentenced" to drive a small car when they choose the Rio.

This is almost becoming repetitive. How many times have we reviewed a new small entry level car and declared it filled to the brim with style, features, performance, and personality?

Last summer during a discussion with senior Hyundai management in Seoul, I asked “When can we expect to see a third plant for Hyundai and or Kia in the United States?” The response was “A third plant will be necessary when Hyundai and Kia sell 900,000 per year in the USA.”

In 2010, Hyundai sold 538,228 cars and light trucks in the USA and Kia sold 356,496 cars and light trucks. That is a total of 874,496 cars and light trucks for these two fast-growing brands. That number is also close enough for us to hypothesize that an announcement for a third Hyundai or Kia plant in the USA should be forthcoming.

Two USA Plants Already at or Above Capacity: Clearly, Hyundai is pushing the capacity of their Montgomery, Alabama plant. With [...]

You know the world has changed when Kia can price a normally aspirated 4-cylinder compact crossover at $30K.  Buying a Kia Sportage used to mean that you needed the cargo capacity and/or wanted the image of an SUV but were prepared to settle for the lowest common denominator (read: Least expensive option).  After explaining to your family, friends, neighbors and the occasional gas station patron why on earth you purchased a Kia another debate came up… What about resale? You could usually sit back and watch a Kia depreciate like gallon of unrefrigerated milk on a warm summer afternoon.  But times have definitely changed… and Kia’s star is on the rise…