Are KIA Renewing their image?

[LukeR94]

I always thought KIA was a budget manufacturer?

But recently having a look online the price of a new car is way above what I expected!

The only feasible explanation for this is that they now consider themselves a mid range brand with the likes of ford, vauxhall, etc.

Do I have it wrong? have I always had it wrong

[TurboHatchback]

I'd rather have a Kia than a Vauxhall.

[s m]

Anyone seen a Kia Elan recently?

[TangerinePool]

Love the look of the Optima but it needs more cyinders/displacement options.

[matpilch]

TurboHatchback said:

I'd rather have a Kia than a Vauxhall.

certainly.
I also rate Kia higher than Skoda, the French etc and on par with Ford.
To say they've improved a lot is an understatement

[Zerotonine]

TurboHatchback said:

I'd rather have a Kia than a Vauxhall.

This x 1,000,000. But then I would rather take the bus than have another Vauxhall.

[Toaster Pilot]

Pricing themselves out of the market IMO - a 7 year warranty is great unless you need to use it often.....

I wouldn't have another.

[Riley Blue]

They've evolved into a manufacturer of well designed and engineered cars with greater mass-market appeal.

[Matt UK]

As the product moves up, so does the pricing.

Kia still have a lot of growth to come.

[sooperscoop]

Toaster Pilot said:

Pricing themselves out of the market IMO - a 7 year warranty is great unless you need to use it often.....

Their costs have spiralled, South Korea is no longer a cheap place to manufacture. Assembly line workers there earn significantly more than their UK equivalents.

[telecat]

Too expensive for the image.

[grayze]

The quality of the Kia and Hyundai's we test drove exceeded the Vauxhalls by a mile.

[EricE]

LukeR94 said:

I always thought KIA was a budget manufacturer?

I thought so too. Having never even seen a KIA from the inside, my perceived image (here in Germany/Netherlands) is somewhere between Dacia and Vaxhall/Opel. A great value car for people that clearly don’t care about cars. But the responses in this thread so far suggest that I’m wrong.

[r11co]

Riley Blue said:

They've evolved into a manufacturer of well designed and engineered cars with greater mass-market appeal.

Matt UK said:

As the product moves up, so does the pricing. Kia still have a lot of growth to come.

Indeed. Anyone in their 40s/50s will be old enough to remember how the Japanses car industry rose in exactly the same way.

[DuraAce]

Very happy with mine. It doesn't handle like it's on rails or any of the other tired clichés I hear.

I couldn't care less, it's just a car. Does the job well, Cheap to run, no road tax etc. It's so far been much more reliable than the supposed premium brand Audi I used to own.

[EricE]

I found a video... sounds like KIA is german now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detai...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Schreyer

[Pebbles167]

matpilch said:

certainly.
I also rate Kia higher than Skoda, the French etc and on par with Ford.
To say they've improved a lot is an understatement

I wouldn't say ford are above any of them. Fords rust, and fit together no better than any other manufacturer.

[KTF]

Toaster Pilot said:

Pricing themselves out of the market IMO - a 7 year warranty is great unless you need to use it often.....

I wouldn't have another.

Which model did you have and what warranty claims did you have on it?

[slash79]

My wife has a MK1 phase 2 C'eed. (Essential use car so no choice). I was gutted when she found out she was getting a Kia, but it's changed my opinion! So much so, when she gets her next essential use company car in Oct, I hope it's the new C'eed!!
Good looking, great spec and does what it says on the tin.
They've come on a long long way IMO.
They're no drivers car, but as a mode of transport they're great.

[Lost soul]

My better half insisted on getting a Kia Picanto ,, her mum is a Kia fan and is into the 4x4 thing they do which seems ok , the picante is really an ok little shopping trolley never had any problems with it , it just does what it does