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Kia (Page 4)

Kia

In this section of Torque News you can find the latest news from Kia and news about Kia vehicles. Keith Griffin is the Hyundai/Kia news reporter at Torque News and can be followed on Twitter at IndepthAuto.

Kia became a company in the 1940s but didn’t sell its first car in the U.S. until 1992. It now sells in over 180 countries. Since joining forces with its Korean rival Hyundai in 1998, Kia models have come a long way from what they used to be and are now well-designed vehicles with the latest the industry has to offer.

The combined Hyundai – Kia operation is the fifth largest automaker in the United States. Kia has a manufacturing facility in West Point, Georgia where it produces three models: the top-selling Telluride CUV, Sorento CUV, and the new K5 midsize sedan. It also ships vehicles for sale in Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean and Pacific nations.

Here’s a little bit of trivia for you. The word “Kia” is derived from the Chinese characters Ki, meaning to “arise or come up out of” and a, referring to Asia. So when put together, Kia means to “arise or come up out of Asia.”

Kia’s extensive lineup includes sedans and SUVs of all sizes, hatchbacks, a minivan, an all-electric model, hybrids and plug-in hybrids, a quick and sporty four-door hatchback, and a large and very luxurious sedan.

Unlike Hyundai’s more conservative lineup, Kia offers sportier designs and driving dynamics. The quick Stinger GT and Forte GT are fun-to-drive examples while models like the Optima, Sportage, and Telluride offer sleek and sporty looks.

The Telluride, K5 and Forte models are some of the brand’s top sellers. Other models include the Soul hatchback, the Niro hybrid SUV, the Rio, the Sedona minivan, and the Niro EV. The Stinger is Kia’s rear-drive sports car and the Cadenza and K900 big sedans are the brand’s luxurious offerings but have some of the poorest sales in the lineup.

New models include the big three-row Telluride SUV, the compact Seltos SUV, the the Soul EV, and the sporty K5 that replaces the Optima for 2021.

Below is a list of Kia’s models with starting prices (excludes delivery charges):

  • 2021 Kia Seltos – $21,990
  • 2021 Kia Soul – $17,490
  • 2020 Kia Niro – $24,590
  • 2020 Kia Niro Plug-in Hybrid – $29,400
  • 2021 Kia Sportage – $23,990
  • 2021 Kia Sorento – $29,390
  • 2021 Kia Telluride – $31,990
  • 2020 Kia Rio – $15,850
  • 2021 Kia Forte – $17,890
  • 2021 Kia K5 – $23,390
  • 2021 Kia Stinger – $33,090
  • 2020 Kia Cadenza – $37,850
  • 2020 Kia K900 – $59,900
  • 2020 Kia Niro EV – $39,090
  • 2021 Kia Soul EV – Discontinued?
  • 2021 Kia Sedona – $30,400
By Timothy Boyer on September 8, 2023 - 4:32PM
Consumer Reports analysts found that when it comes to what models are the most searched on their website by consumers, they just had to create a “Most Popular New Cars and SUVs” list to aid your new car shopping research.
By Justin Hart on September 2, 2023 - 2:56PM
Kia continued its streak of year-over-year monthly US sales growth for the 13th consecutive month in August. 72,147 units were sold across the US and it marks the second highest monthly sales total in Kia’s history.
By Timothy Boyer on September 1, 2023 - 4:16PM
Here’s an update on the latest midsized SUV’s that despite their perceived popularity, should be avoided according to Consumer Reports’ car experts who recommend these recently updated better choices for shoppers.
By Justin Hart on September 1, 2023 - 12:25AM
On our epic road trip, I reached some conclusions about my Kia Sorento plug-in hybrid (PHEV), its capabilities and PHEVs generally. PHEVs can be amazingly efficient, but are often less efficient than standard hybrids on long trips, even if charged often.
By Justin Hart on August 23, 2023 - 12:55AM
As we drove the final leg of our odyssey to Anaheim, after visiting some friends and family in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, Sport Mode surprised us with its performance over the Grapevine mountain pass on I-5.
By Justin Hart on August 19, 2023 - 12:57PM
It’s my second day into a 2,500 road trip and I find myself surprised again! This time it is only a small surprise: Sport Mode turned out to be less efficient than I thought. This casts doubt on my latest theory, even though we still got good results.
By Justin Hart on August 18, 2023 - 9:46AM
I have just set out on a 2,500 mile long road trip with my family. We are driving from the Seattle, WA suburbs to Anaheim, CA over the next several days. One day into our trip and we have already set a new personal record!
By Justin Hart on August 17, 2023 - 2:10PM
I completed another imperfect test of my Kia Sorento plug-in hybrid’s (PHEV’s) fuel efficiency today. It is imperfect because I haven’t run a truly comparable test and I also simply haven’t repeated the test yet. But still, the results are interesting.
By Timothy Boyer on August 15, 2023 - 6:22PM
Here’s the latest selection from Consumer Reports on what they found to be the best deals for the most fuel-efficient cars and SUVs. Plus, a short lesson on fuel-saving myths and hacks you should avoid.
By Justin Hart on August 12, 2023 - 1:58PM
Chevrolet is beginning deliveries of its new Blazer EV model, but how does their latest EV model stack up to its competition and just what do you get for its starting price of around $57,000? Let’s take a peek and find out.
By Timothy Boyer on August 11, 2023 - 2:04PM
Check your mailbox and watch for an important anti-theft announcement from Kia’s Corporate Headquarters and understand why this can make things worse for some Kia car owners.
By Justin Hart on August 11, 2023 - 12:55PM
Last year, I tested the fuel efficiency of my Kia Sorento Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) on a trip over multiple mountain passes using Sport mode. This time I will do one leg of the trip in Sport mode to see if it might be better.
By Justin Hart on August 4, 2023 - 4:04AM
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Kia set another new monthly sales record in the US last month. Once again, Kia’s electrified vehicle sales were up too, but this time (unlike most of the last 12 months), EVs helped their numbers.
By Justin Hart on July 29, 2023 - 4:38AM
If you’ve followed my recent stories, you might know I enjoy camping and have owned a small collection of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) that I enjoy road trips and camping in. For camping, nothing beats a plug-in hybrid, at least in the near term.
By Justin Hart on July 26, 2023 - 3:23AM
Over the weekend, I took another great camping trip in our Kia Sorento Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV). This time, I spent more time playing with the three drive modes that are toggled via the EV/HEV button next to the gear selector. The results were interesting.
By Justin Hart on July 21, 2023 - 11:26AM
There has been some recent negative press about electric vehicles (EVs), rather than their drivers, creating more tire pollution than gas powered vehicles. I am highly suspicious of these claims.
By Timothy Boyer on July 13, 2023 - 11:40AM
Here’s an important warning about why you should never throw away any car-related junk mail from your dealership or car manufacturer. Plus, two current makes this especially applies to for owners right now.
By Justin Hart on July 8, 2023 - 1:51PM
People don’t believe me, sometimes, when I tell them how good my fuel economy is or how far I can go on a charge in my Kia Sorento Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV). I figure a reasonable response might be to share not only how I am able to squeeze more than the rated range from the battery, but also how I can beat the projected range figures on the dashboard and exceed the gas and combined miles per gallon figures for the Sorento PHEV, too. This applies to any plug-in vehicle, not just Kias, of course.
By Justin Hart on July 3, 2023 - 3:31AM
Kia America is continuing their hot streak, now covering 11 consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases. Growing SUV sales (up 25% collectively) are mostly responsible for Kia’s trajectory, and electrified (as opposed to all-electric) vehicles are also up significantly. I call out electrified versus electric because Kia’s electric vehicle (EV) sales are actually down, once again, significantly.
By Justin Hart on June 26, 2023 - 3:46AM
This weekend I repeated a drive I did just over a year ago, mainly because I wanted to go for a hike, but also because I wanted to do a simple diagnostic test of my Kia Sorento plug-in hybrid (PHEV) battery to see if there might have been any noticeable degradation in its maximum range on a full charge. Note, I did not expect there to be any degradation, I was just checking for the sake of doing so while transporting myself to a hiking spot.
By Justin Hart on June 24, 2023 - 4:57AM
Kia has at least two new electric SUVs going on sale soon. One of them has just had pricing information released for the South Korean market (the EV9). The other, the EV5, has also been confirmed by at least one media outlet as now destined for both right and left hand drive markets (which may mean we’ll get it in the US, too). This is good news for those looking for larger, 3 row, or just more spacious all electric SUVs that are a little more reasonably priced.
By Justin Hart on June 17, 2023 - 2:14PM
My family and I are heading out on a camping trip to a state park a little over an hour from our house in the Seattle area. We’ve loaded up our Kia Sorento plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with all the gear we need (and then some) and we’re testing some different drive modes and sharing a few other requested tips for how to get the most from your PHEV, Kia or otherwise, on a camping trip.
By Justin Hart on June 16, 2023 - 4:29AM
The battle for midsize, 3 row SUV sales supremacy is heating up in the US. Toyota has recently debuted its newest 3 row entrant, the Grand Highlander and its luxury marque twin, the Lexus TX. But Toyota already has a 3 row midsize SUV, the (not Grand) Highlander, so what gives? It seems like Toyota is trying to take on Kia and Hyundai specifically with this new slightly larger mid size SUV model.
By John Goreham on June 5, 2023 - 10:09AM
We break down what makes the EV6 GT a GT.
By Justin Hart on June 2, 2023 - 3:26PM
Kia continues its hot streak with another month of record US vehicle sales. Interestingly, their electrified vehicle sales continue to be dominated by hybrids, and just two models are responsible for their 33% year-over-year monthly sales increase: the Sportage and the Sorento.
By Justin Hart on May 31, 2023 - 4:54AM
With 4 dear friends in tow, we completed a weekend wine tasting getaway in the beautiful Walla Walla and Red Mountain American Viticultural Areas. The wine was amazing (see some of my notes and recommendations below) and the Kia Sorento plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sipped gas while our party sipped wine; we managed to get about 37 MPG round trip, which included 3 full charges of the battery.
By Justin Hart on May 27, 2023 - 11:49AM
Yesterday I drove a little over 200 miles in my Kia Sorento Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) with 4 adults plus our stuff for a weekend wine trip getaway and in doing so tried to prove more definitively whether using the vehicle’s Sport Mode could result in a more fuel efficient drive. My results were inconclusive.
By Justin Hart on May 26, 2023 - 3:38AM
Last year, I had an interesting debate with another Kia Sorento Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) owner re: the drive modes it offers and how to maximize fuel efficiency on a long road trip. I devised a number of tests, which I’ll link to below, but one thing I never really did was to repeat a long road trip but this time use his proposed method to see whether I am right about the most efficient way to drive this PHEV.
By Justin Hart on May 20, 2023 - 4:40AM
I own a Kia Sorento Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) and live in the Pacific Northwest. We have recently seen unseasonably warm weather here and that was my cue to swap my winter tires out for my all season tires. As soon as I switched to the factory Continental Cross Contact tires, my all electric range increased. The warmer weather and lower rolling resistance tires make a noticeable difference.
By Armen Hareyan on May 19, 2023 - 10:22AM
Embarking on a cross-country journey with an electric vehicle (EV) is an exciting and pioneering experience. Recently, Sam Lev, an owner of a Kia EV6, shared his remarkable road trip in the Kia EV6 Owners group on Facebook.