2014 Kia Optima on 2040-cars

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UPDATE: Kia K900 revealed, first in leaked shots, now in official photos

We have been posting sketches and teaser images of the upcoming Kia K900 sedan, but photos of the real thing are already available in South Korea. Some presentation slides of the car, wearing the name "K9" (that's what it's called over there), are now online on Kia's own website and in the photo gallery above. The restrained appearance conveyed in the sketches is present in the final car. There's still something German about it, with detail choices reflecting current BMW and Mercedes offerings: The front grille is certainly about as big as BMW 7-series' kidneys these days. The lights' LED accents are clearly visible in all photos. Fitting the car with real-life wheels definitely makes it lose something striking that the sketches had, but that is the case with all concept design sketches. The interior ambience depicted in the penned sketch has translated well to the photograph-like render: it will be interesting to see how the promised mood lighting modes will affect the interior. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Earlier, screenshots of the slideshow have made it online on a Korean motoring site, as well as this "Job #1" style photo taken at a manufacturing facility. They showed March 20th as a date for the online unveiling, and the K9 microsite came online today. Kia has also published this commercial of the new car on YouTube. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Kia announced that the car will be shown officially at the New York International Auto Show, but the date on the slideshow already promises something, perhaps local, for tomorrow. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 Kia K900 official images Spy Photos Kia Luxury Sedan kia k900

Kia's brand perception still painfully lags behind reality

I can't tell you how many times I've been driving with friends or family in a decidedly nice Korean press car, only to have a passenger notice the logo on the steering wheel and exclaim, "Wait... this is a Kia?" For every time I roll my eyes at a story with a lede about how Hyundai "is really gaining momentum these days," I get equally annoyed when people comment on how Kia is finally starting to make decent cars. This is hardly news. The brand has been pumping out really solid stuff for a while now.
But as it turns out, not everyone knows that. According to Ward's Auto, speaking to Kia marketing chief Michael Sprague, the automaker recently placed third-to-last in a recent ALG Brand Perception of Quality study, only besting Suzuki and Smart. Wow.
Ward's notes that Kia recently earned a credible sixth place in J.D. Power & Associates' Initial Quality Study, and yet still fell way behind pretty much every other brand in the ALG study. The Korean automaker's cars have also won numerous awards in recent years, and have generally earned positive reviews from the media, Autoblog included.

Nissan GT-R, Armada and the new Kia Sorento | Autoblog Podcast #658

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer for the final episode of 2020. They've been driving some interesting cars, including the Nissan GT-R, the new Nissan Armada, a Mercedes-Benz GLA and a pair of new-gen Kia Sorentos. They talk a bit about an interesting new EV called the Ace from Alpha Motor Corporation. Finally, the trio takes turns talking about their favorite cars they drove this year. Enjoy, and we'll be back with more episodes in 2021. Autoblog Podcast #658 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving:2021 Nissan GT-R 2021 Nissan Armada 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA 2021 Kia Sorento Alpha Motor Corporation unveils Ace electric coupe Our favorite cars of the year: Zac: Lotus Evora GT John: Polestar 2 Greg: McLaren GT Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: Green Podcasts Kia Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Nissan Coupe Crossover SUV Electric Luxury Performance Sedan Polestar