Korean carmaker Kia is one thing of a Cinderella story.

When the automaker arrived within the U.S. in 1994, its vehicles have been poorly reviewed, and it was seen principally as a low-cost worth model. 

Now, Kia is successful awards and commanding greater markups than its friends. U.S. gross sales have gone from about 12,000 models in 1994 to virtually 700,000 models in 2022.

“We had a file in 2022,” stated Steve Middle, chief working officer of Kia America, including that the primary half of 2023 introduced one other gross sales file. “We now have unbelievable high quality recognition from J.D. Energy. We now have extra autos which have obtained ICS awards this yr than some other model. So it is simply every part coming collectively.”

It’s the results of years of funding and analysis, and a few key hires away from prestigious luxurious and efficiency manufacturers reminiscent of BMW and Audi.

“It was similar to this insane turnaround from a model that most individuals would say, ‘I’ve by no means heard of,’ or ‘I’ve solely seen these on the facet of the highway’ to ‘I need that in my driveway,'” stated Ivan Drury, senior director of insights for Edmunds.

However Kia can be going through challenges: a number of cities are suing it and sister model Hyundai over a rash of thefts, each manufacturers in August needed to recall greater than 91,000 autos over hearth dangers and it was locked out of some federal electrical car tax credit as a result of it does not at present manufacture its electrical autos within the U.S.

Plus, it faces a stiff uphill climb to assert EV market share within the U.S.

Tesla dominates the EV market nonetheless with about 60% of the pie. All different automakers have share within the single digits. However Kia believes it will possibly tackle electrical in addition to it took on inner combustion.

“Time and tenacity is what’s on our facet,” Middle stated. “We have the tenacity and we’ll get there. By a bigger product line, a brisker product line — and a extra thrilling. That is our objective. That is our promise.”

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