KIA
The KIA (Kia Motors Corporation) based in Seoul, is the second-largest car manufacturer in South Korea, following the Hyundai Motor Company, with sales of more than 2.7 million vehicles in 2012, and nearly 2.75 million vehicles in 2013. Ever since December 2013 33.88% of the company of Hyundai Motor Company. According to Kia Motors, the name “Kia” derives from the Sino-Korean words ki (“out”) and one (ie for Asia), it is rough as “arise or come out of Asia” or translated as “Emerging Asia”.
The old car manufacturer in South Korea Kia was founded on June 9, 1944, as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts by hand. And served as one of the countries since chaebols In 1951 Kia began building complete bicycles. 1952 Kia changed its name to Kyungsung Precision Industry, and later built motorcycles (from 1957), trucks (1962), and Cars (1974). The company opened its first integrated automotive assembly plant in the 1973 Sohari factory.
Kia Brisa beach built small cars until 1981 when production ended after the new military dictator Chun Doo-hwan applied consolidation of the industry. This forced to renounce Kia cars and, all light commercial vehicles. Since 1986, Kia has the automotive industry are connected, in partnership with Ford. Kia produced several Mazda-derived vehicles for domestic sales in South Korea and for export to other countries. These models include the Kia Pride, based on the Mazda 121, and the Avella, which is sold in North America and Australasia as the Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire.
In August 2014, the company received international attention when Francis Catholic Church mounted one of its compact cars, the Kia Soul, during a five-day visit to South Korea. The Kia Soul has attracted more attention than the other two vehicles by the Pope, the Kia Carnival and Hyundai Santa Fe used as it appeared in the high-profile ceremony to welcome his arrival at the airport in Seoul.
Kia Design
From 2006 Kia design was identified as a “basic engine of future growth”, which recruited Peter Schreyer, had the Tom Kearns set as head of a design direction Schreyer 2006 and 2005. worked at Audi (design of the Audi TT) and Volkswagen and won the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany. Kearns had previously served as CEO and Cadillac’s design was influenced by the direction responsible for Cadillac’s hard corners and sharp lines in their design. Schreyer has since played a central role in a complete revision of the range of Kia, monitoring design activities in the design of the Kia centers in Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Namyang Design Center in Korea. Has shown with the concept of vehicle Kee, in Frankfurt in 2007, Kia introduced to create a new corporate grille on a “face” for the brand recognizable.
Known as the Tiger Nose, Schreyer said it is a powerful visual signal, a seal, an identifier. The front of the car needs this recognition, this expression would. “A car needs a face, and I think the new Kia face is strong and distinctive. The visibility is important, and that the face immediately you can have a Kia even close to identifying with. “Schreyer describes how the Tiger Nose Kia came to be, as he explains,” I work on the car and only about the different ways to think, and suddenly I found it. ” With regard to the new grille signing in 2009: “From now on, we will have all our cars.” Kia has presented the tiger-nose on all vehicles in the compact Kia Soul, the new angular design of the Kia Optima, and the largest SUV, the Kia Sorento.
Kia Controversies
At the end of 2012, Kia Motors was forced to admit the error to EPA mileage inflate costs and had its fuel consumption reduce claims in the United States by about 3 percent across the board and management compensation to Kia’s previous car buyers.