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Kia introduced the K900 premium luxury car for the 2014 model year.  Based on Hyundai/Kia’s rear wheel drive platform shared with the Hyundai Equus and loosely the Hyundai Genesis sedan, Kia’s entry into the luxury market is controversial.  Internally and externally there were concerns that the brand was not ready to take the leap into the $60,000 price range.  But as is often the case in the life of an import distributor, the parent company demands that you take the “gift” of a vehicle you might not think fits the lineup at the time.

KMA – AutoPacific Neighbors  Full disclosure, Kia Motors America headquarters in Irvine are less than a mile from AutoPacific’s headquarters in Tustin, California.  Every day our roads are filled with Kia Optima mid-size cars (to our eye, the best looking mid-size car presently on the market), Kia Soul hamster cars and Kia Forte compact cars.  Given the population of cars within a mile radius, Kia is the best selling brand on the market.  K900s are rarer, but does K900 hurt KMA’s position in the American market?  We don’t think so.

Conservative Design Will Not Offend  The exterior of the car is conservative and tasteful.  There is little flamboyance with the exception of Kia’s outstanding white pearlescent paint (I don’t like white cars, but the white available on the Optima and K900 is a very rich looking color).  The K900 is a large car with generous greenhouse that provides excellent visibility except rearward where the headrests get in the way.

Kia K900 Interior Outstanding  The K900 interior is a work of art.  The seats are nicely styled, supportive and infinitely adjustable with Mercedes-like seat controls on the door trim panels.  The instrument panel is electronic wizardry with a very well designed programmable 12.3-inch instrument cluster and 9.2-inch center stack screen with Kia’s UVO eServices telematics system.  Radio controls are actually easy to use with KNOBS (!) and source buttons.  The rear seat is very spacious and comfortable.  In the uplevel VIP executive package (a $6,000 option) designed for Korean CEOs to ride in the rear there are redundant controls in the center arm rest.  In the particular example we have been driving for a week, the interior trim is a very light grey or off white which makes it seem open, airy and spacious.  The contrasting grey environmental color gives a very upscale ambiance.

Lexus-Like Dynamics  Dynamically, the K900 harkens back two generations to the Lexus LS430, before Lexus decided to try a more sporty route.  The ride is very isolated, soft and cushion-like.  The 5.0L gasoline direct injection V8 is powerful and smooth.  Mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission we saw an average fuel economy of about 15mpg.  While the fuel economy is not sterling, it is about what you’d expect in a car like this.

So, the Kia K900 is not a German luxury car and is not what the Lexus LS460 has evolved into.  The Kia K900 is a very competitive, traditional luxury car that will be comfortable for the long haul and easy to live with.