Kia
Kia
The Kia Corporation is the second-largest South Korean automaker, behind the Hyundai Motor Company. Kia is known for offering affordable models in a wide variety of builds and styles, big and small. Kia vehicles are sold worldwide except in Japan and North Korea.
Founded in 1944 in Seoul, South Korea, Kia was first known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and manufactured steel tubing and bicycle parts. After changing its name to Kia Industries in 1952, the company later built Honda motorcycles and Mazda cars and trucks. It took until 1992 for Kia to release its first Kia-branded vehicles with the Kia Sephia compact car and then the Kia Sportage compact crossover SUV.
After declaring bankruptcy in 1997 during a financial crisis in Asia, the Hyundai Motor Company acquired ownership of 51% of Kia, keeping it afloat and creating an exchange and collaboration of ideas and technology between the two South Korean automakers that persists today.
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