From $20k budget hatchbacks to a $100k premium electric SUV in just a handful of years - How Kia transformed its image and became a pain for brands like Mazda, Toyota, Mitsubishi and even Hyundai

As I sat in Kia’s latest model, the circa-$100,000 EV9 large electric SUV - I had to ponder one of the first Kias I ever reviewed for CarsGuide.

It was back in early 2018, and I was driving a roughly $20,000 budget hatchback - the previous-generation Cerato, which, at the time, dated back to 2014. Its key selling points were a seven-year warranty, and the fact that the S variant I was driving now came with a free automatic transmission.

Even though that very car I drove would still be covered by its original warranty, just six years later I found myself in Kia’s latest flagship, the EV9. I was testing it as part of a preview drive in its Korean home market, and the one I was steering was a mid-spec offering, priced from $106,500 in Australia.

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Yet somehow, this big luxury electric SUV still feels like good value. It’s beautifully built, has every electric car feature under the sun, and it even drives well, which can’t be said for most SUVs this size, let alone ones that weigh in at 2552kg thanks to 100kWh of batteries under the floor.

So how did we get to the point where we don’t need to flinch at a Kia that costs north of $100,000? It’s a story of a brand being acquired by a giant and making all the right moves to establish itself as a global automotive force, and eventually, a leader.

Origins

The Kia brand dates all the way back to 1944 when it was founded as Kyungsung Precision Industry by Kim Chul-Ho - an engineer who had trained in Japan. The brand originally mass-manufactured bicycles under the Samchuly brand (which still exists today, although was spun-off from Kia as a separate entity in 1985).

From there, the newly re-named Kia (derived from the Hanja characters for 'Ki' - arise and 'a' - for Asia) focused on automotive in 1962, building licensed versions of the Mazda K360 - a kei-sized and motorcycle-based three-wheel pick-up truck. The ‘truck’ was popular for its ability to haul coal and rice compared to other options, and the relationship with Mazda flourished, eventuating in local Korean production of the Mazda Brisa four-door sedan in 1974 (the great-ancestor of the current Mazda3).

The newly re-named Kia focused on automotive in 1962, building licensed versions of the Mazda K360 - a kei-sized and motorcycle-based three-wheel pick-up truck.

As the Kia Brisa was 90 per cent locally produced, it was a big win for Kia, although it came second to Hyundai, which around the same time launched its 100 per cent locally designed Pony which is now commonly seen as the first truly Korean car.

Still, the Brisa was popular enough that it is remembered fondly in Korea, and by 1992 Kia began exporting the Kia Pride, which was a Korean-assembled Mazda 121. It’s first locally-designed car, the Sephia (badged in Australia as the Mentor) launched in 1992, although it still used Mazda’s B-Series four-cylinder engines.

The Brisa was popular enough that it is remembered fondly in Korea, and by 1992 Kia began exporting the Kia Pride, which was a Korean-assembled Mazda 121.

The brand continued to expand its global footprint, launching in Australia in 1997 with the cut-price Mentor (which would eventually become the Cerato) at $15,990 drive-away, but the same year the brand filed for bankruptcy, a victim of the Asian Financial Crisis.

Mainstream acceptance

Despite its financial woes, Kia had become a sought-after automotive property. It was fought over by Ford, which already had a stake in the brand, as well as fellow Korean giants, Daewoo and Samsung.

It was Hyundai that was in the best financial position to acquire Kia, and it did so in 1998, acquiring roughly a third of the company - enough for a controlling share. Shortly after, Hyundai began merging Kia models onto the same platforms as its cars, dumping the dated Mazda platforms and modernising Kia’s range with new designs and engines.

The Mentor was merged onto the same J platform as the Hyundai Elantra and was re-named the Cerato in 2003, while the original Sportage - underpinned by a Mazda commercial truck platform - was replaced by a much more contemporary monocoque urban SUV model.

The Mentor was merged onto the same J platform as the Hyundai Elantra and was re-named the Cerato in 2003.

At the same time, Kia opened an R&D centre in Namyang and its exports from South Korea totalled 500,000 units.

Soon after, the brand was targeting Europe, opening a Slovakian plant and tailoring its vehicles to challenge the likes of Volkswagen, Renault and Peugeot. It also hired ex-Audi designer Peter Schreyer in 2006. Schreyer was most famous for the original Audi TT, and he immediately set about penning a more unified design language for Kia’s range. His most influential imprint was the ‘tiger nose’ grille which, while less important, persists in some form to this day.

The Mentor was merged onto the same J platform as the Hyundai Elantra and was re-named the Cerato in 2003.

As a result, the design and quality of Kia’s cars were now accepted to be nearly that of their Japanese rivals, and the brand was winning design and quality awards the world around. Yet, Kia’s low-cost image in Australia continued throughout the late 2000s and much of the 2010s. 

In 2014 the brand introduced an at-the-time shocking ownership pitch: A seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty, seven years of capped-price servicing, and seven years of roadside assist. It was the first brand in Australia to do so, at a time when a three-year/100,000km warranty was the accepted industry standard.

This added to the brand’s momentum, and by 2017 Kia had entered the top 10 automakers in Australia, kicking Honda off the list, and securing a 9th position ahead of Subaru.

Making the most of momentum

By its top 10 VFACTS debut, Kia’s range was well established in the mind of Australians. At the time the brand had answers to all the popular categories (apart from a ute) with the Picanto city car, Rio small car, Cerato hatch, Optima sedan, Sportage mid-size SUV, Sorento large SUV, Carnival people mover, and even some oddball entries like the Rondo MPV. It was the Stinger that was a bit of a coup for the Korean brand. 

While large performance rear-wheel-drive sedans were falling out of favour big time in the sales charts, the Stinger won respect from journalists and the public alike for offering some kind of continuity of the big six-cylinder family sedan for those still clinging to the discontinued Ford Falcon and locally built Commodore.

It also wasn’t cheap and cheerful, and while Kia was still selling $20k Ceratos with free automatic transmissions, it was notable that a $45,990 (before on-roads) base-model Stinger 200S didn’t raise too many eyebrows at the time, even if it wasn’t a big sales success. Importantly, it was one of the key models that proved Kia could build more than just a mainstream hatchback, sedan or SUV - it was ready for the performance big leagues, too.

The Stinger won respect from journalists and the public alike for offering some kind of continuity of the big six-cylinder family sedan for those still clinging to the discontinued Ford Falcon and locally built Commodore.

As we approach the 2020s. Kia is established. The brand has built a reputation for safe, reliable and desirable models, and at a price-point that's no longer cheap and cheerful, but a proper competitor to the likes of giants like Toyota, Mazda and Mitsubishi.

But Kia, with the help of its Hyundai parent, was not done. Identifying electrification as its next big chapter, the group has completely accepted the battery electric shift. While its Japanese rivals have lagged in getting their electric offerings to market, some of them actively denying the shift in the market, Kia and Hyundai have heavily invested in not only new platforms, but a shift up-market in design and technology.

The resulting e-GMP platform spawned the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, two wild SUVs with market-leading features like an 800-volt architecture, allowing ultra-fast charging, innovative use of recycled and sustainable materials, and a fresh way of looking at interior layouts.

Under the fresh aesthetic leadership direction of ex-BMW designer Karim Habib, the EV6 and EV9 debut a new look for Kia that will proliferate across its entire range of vehicles, including the upcoming EV5 mid-size SUV.

At its 2022 launch, the EV6 cost $67,990 for a base Air, reaching to previously-unforeseen heights of $82,990 for a top-spec GT-Line all-wheel drive. But this price was earned. Aside from its impressive platform, the EV6 was a sight to behold. A wild coupe-SUV with loads of interior tech and 239kW on tap, able to sprint from 0-100km/h in 5.2 seconds! It wasn’t even the promised full-fat GT which would arrive later.

The EV6 absolutely set the stage and the expectation that its larger sibling, the EV9, would break the $100,000 barrier for the brand, and it's done so in style. Under the fresh aesthetic leadership direction of ex-BMW designer Karim Habib, the EV6 and EV9 debut a new look for Kia that will proliferate across its entire range of vehicles, including the upcoming EV5 mid-size SUV, and its smaller EV3 and EV4 siblings in the coming years.

As Habib told this author late last year: “Our voice carries a certain meaning, not just in terms of styling, but in terms of strategy, which is super gratifying as a designer”, showing how seriously Kia takes its appearance as a wholistic element of its brand.

The future

Kia may well be a leader in the design department, and well established automaker the world over, but its biggest challenge may yet lie in front of it.

As compliance with safety and emissions regulations becomes more difficult, and the price of electric vehicles remains high, this hard-fought position in the market can easily be taken away. Just as Kia and Hyundai eroded the market leadership of the Japanese brands, they themselves now have new Chinese players snapping at their heels.

Kia may well be a leader in the design department, and well established automaker the world over, but its biggest challenge may yet lie in front of it.

A rejuvenated MG - now owned by the Chinese state-backed SAIC Motor - has already made itself a top 10 player in a much shorter period than Kia could by taking advantage of the increasingly abandoned low-cost sector of the market and it, too, has doubled down on its momentum by being quick to launch more affordable electric follow-ups, like the ZS EV and MG4. Contemporaries, like GWM Haval, BYD, and Chery are very keen to follow in its footsteps.

While it took Kia nearly 30 years in the Australian market to justify selling a $100,000 car - it looks like MG might even try its luck earlier than expected with the arrival of the Cyberster drop-top later in 2024 with the specs and potentially the price-tag to take a shot at even cars like the BMW Z4 or Porsche Boxster.

Will Kia be next to tumble down the top-10 list at the hands of its new Chinese rivals? Time will tell.