The history of the KIA car brand

KIA became known to the world not so long ago. Cars appeared on the market only in 1992, and 20 years later the company became the seventh most popular car manufacturer. Below is a detailed history of the brand.

Founder

The company went live in May 1944 with the registered name "KyungSung Precision Industry" (rough translation: precision industry). The slogan sounded and still sounds simple: "The art of surprising." At the beginning of its career, the company was not engaged in cars, but bicycles and motorcycles. Moreover, it is hand-assembled. Now the brand, united with other brands, occupies the fifth position in the world market.

Ten years later, in the 10s, the company was renamed to its current name - KIA Industries. And after another decade, the company legalizes the production of motorcycles with the name Honda C1950. In 100-1958, the production of three-wheeled motorcycles began, their development and high sales made it possible to create the first car of its own brand.

In the 1970s, the first car was produced. From the locals, the car acquired the status of "people's" - it became the first car bought more than a million times. The equipment was large, full-size. A decade later, KIA is releasing a new compact size model. In the early eighties, the company was subjected to a severe financial crisis. At this time, the company created the Pride model with a bet on the low price of the car - $ 7500. In 1987, the company goes abroad and sells part of the machines in Canada, and then in the USA.

And now the 1990s come. In a good way. Large-scale production began in 1992 of cars of the Sephia series - it was completely "sketched", created in-house. At the end of the millennium, the brand joins the Hyundai Motor Group.

For about 10 years, KIA produced the created machines in large quantities, without visible changes and global innovations. Everything changed in 2006 when Peter Schreyer joined the company. He is an automotive stylist, designer, and transformation leader in the automotive industry. A lot of money was invested in the development of new car models and their entry into the foreign market. After that, a car specially designed for a Western audience was shown. The first KIA Sous models received an award for high-quality and modern design of equipment. The title of the award is Red Dot Design Award.

In 2009, KIA Motors Rus was created, and the supply of cars to Russia was also established. A year later, a factory was opened in the USA - this is how the anniversary of the sale of cars was marked: 15 years. The first Beat2017 center opens in 360. It allows customers to get acquainted with the goals, objectives of the brand, ideals, new models of the company and drink delicious coffee.

Emblem

The modern emblem is simple: it shows and denotes the name of the company - KIA. But there is a peculiarity. The letter "A" is indicated without a horizontal line. No background is given for this - this is how it was created by the designer and that's it. The logo is most often depicted in either silver letters on a black background, or in red letters on a white background. On machines - the first option, in the documentation, on the official website - the second option.

The company has two corporate colors: red and white. Until the 1990s, there was no official assignment of colors to KIA, and after that it appeared and was patented by the brand. Buyers associate white with purity and trust, while red stands for constant persistent brand development. The slogan "The Art of Surprising" complements the red color and forms a general picture of the client's KIA.

Automotive brand history in models

So the company was founded in 1944, but car production started much later.

1952 - The first bicycle of Korean origin. Manual assembly, the factory was not automated.

1957 - the first hand-assembled scooter.

October 1961 - Mass production of high quality motorcycles.

June 1973 - completion of the construction of a factory, in which cars for domestic and foreign trade will be created in the future.

July 1973 - mass production of a gasoline engine for future cars is launched at the factory.

1974 - Mazda 323 is created at the created plant - under a contract with Mazda. KIA does not have its own car yet.

October 1974 - creation and assembly of the KIA Briza car. It is considered a full-fledged subcompact passenger car. From that moment on, the company focuses on the factory production of automobiles and pays additional attention to the assembly of motorcycles.

November 1978 - Creation of a quality own diesel engine.

April 1979 - workers and professionals mastered the assembly of "Peugeot-604", "Fiat-132".

1987 - the creation of a cheap model of the Pride car. The prototype was the Mazda 121. The cost of the car was $ 7500. The model is still sold at the same price, but in smaller quantities (as other cars were produced).

1991 - 2 main models are presented in Tokyo: Sportage and Sephia. Sefiya prototype - Mazda 323. Cars are considered to be off-road vehicles with rear or all-wheel drive. Cars for 2 years were awarded the "Best Car of the Year" award. 10 years later, Sefia was considered the "Safest Car in the Industry".

1995 - mass production of KIA Clarus (Kredos, Parktown). The car had a streamlined body with a low level of aerodynamic drag. Prototype - Mazda 626.

1995 - KIA Elan (aka KIA Roadster) model was shown in Tokyo. Front wheel drive car with 1,8 and 16 liter engines.

1997 - the KIA-Baltika car assembly factory was opened in Kaliningrad.

1999 - a new model of the KIA Avella (Delta) car appeared.

1999 - shows of minivans KIA Carens, Joice, Carnival.

2000 - a number of sedans Visto, Rio, Magentis are presented. The total number of car families has reached 13.

 Since 2006, Peter Schreier has been developing car designs for the company. The KIA models are complemented by a radiator grille, which is now called the "grin of a tiger".

2007 - KIA Cee'd car released.

The company has 11 factories, 50 thousand employees and an annual profit of $ 44 million.