[Photo source: Autowereld]

It’s stil too early to say much about the vehicle other than what the photos show, said one of the members of Kia-forums, but it will most likely be a 4 cylinder Front Wheel Drive (FWD) vehicle. There is some talk about an AWD version by a few whisperers in the dark. Certainly it would make sense given that the Sportage, Sorento and whatever emerges as the Kue and Mesa are.

Kia Soul will most likely be geared to the younger crowd as a clear message regarding the differing Hyundai / Kia images. However, consider what happened to the Honda Element. Same expectations only to have it sought out by a much older crowd.

We agree with you Random006!

Gallery:

Click image to enlarge or follow the links for more pictures: Link1 or Link2

Kia officials tell News Three that the auto maker has already started recruiting salaried employees. Project Manager Mike Criddle says Kia’s Human Resources Director, Randy Jackson, is currently shopping around for benefit providers for other employees. Criddle says he expects there to be activity on Kia’s job site within the next 30 days.  Criddle says the overall timing of the arrival of the plant is still intact, despite delays in some milestones.

Kia jobs main page page:

KIA JOBS IN GEORGIA – begin your future with us… 

Last year, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc., broke ground near West Point, Ga., and began construction of its first North American automobile assembly facility. The site was chosen for many reasons, such as Georgia’s excellent transportation system, the state’s leadership, and the region’s quality of life. One of the most important factors, however, is the talent, dedication and quality of Georgia’s people.

Soon, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc., will begin hiring team members to join us. We invite you to check back to this site for news and information as we proceed with building our new facility and begin the hiring process later this summer.

For now, you can learn more about Kia, find answers to your most frequently asked questions, and view some of our recent videos to learn more about our brand.

We are excited about Kia’s future in Georgia. We hope you are, too.

Let’s begin the future together…

The ‘teasing’ is over – Kia has spilled the beans on its new three-door hatch.The Korean firm had previously released two taster pictures of the Pro_cee’d.

But now, we can bring you a full set, including one of the interior.Outside, a longer nose and reduced height give the hatch a much sleeker appearance than its five-door Cee’d brother.

There’s a shallower grille, new-look headlamps, a wider, lower bumper with a prominent lip spoiler, deeper air intake and updated foglights. In addition, a raked windscreen, longer doors, a steeply rising waistline and a tailgate spoiler set the car apart. Yet the Pro_cee’d is said to offer just as much versatility and practicality as the five-door. At 4,250mm long, Kia says it delivers class-leading passenger and load space, with generous legroom front and rear.The hatch’s front doors open wider for improved access, and the 60:40-split rear bench has been reworked so that the seatbacks can be folded flat without removing the head restraints. It’s offered with the same five-strong engine range as the Cee’d – all of which comply with Euro IV emissions regulations. There are three transmission options as well.As with the five-door and SW, it will come in a trio of spec choices.There’s also an optional Sports Pack, bringing 17-inch alloy wheels, stiffer dampers, special trim with ‘tyre track’ fabric and alloy pedals. The Pro_cee’d will make its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in two weeks’ time, before going on sale early next year.

A high-performance variant is also likely to be added to the line-up at a later date. An insider at Kia has revealed to Auto Express that instead of a turbo petrol engine, this model will probably have a revised version of the 2.0-litre diesel tuned to around 180bhp.

[Source: Autoexpress]

This is the video of crash test at EuroNCAP, where Kia Cee’d achieved the highest, 5 star rating!

Crash test article

Who said mini car racing can’t be fun? Look at the crazy video, where fifty drivers push their Kia Picantos to the limits. Hot girls included. Have fun!

Hyundai-Kia cars in Moscow:

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group introduces Hyundai Motor’s i30 hatchback, and Kia Motors’ Cee’d Sporty Wagon to the 2007 Moscow International Motor Show, Wednesday, as part of efforts to expand sales on the Russian market.

Seoul is about to turn a new chapter in clean energy with the opening of the city’s first hydrogen fueling station.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and the National RD&D Organization for Hydrogen & Fuel Cell on Tuesday, GS Caltex Corporation got approval from Seodaemun-gu Office earlier this year and has been constructing since March a hydrogen fueling station at Yonsei University in Seoul.             

The station is currently being tested ahead of its completion date scheduled for the middle of next month.

The country’s first hydrogen fueling station opened in August last year at the Korea Institute of Energy Research in Daejeon. The station at Yonsei University will be the first located in the center of the city.

Currently, there are 26 hydrogen fuel stations for research and everyday use in the U.S., 11 each in Germany and Japan, and six in Canada.

The opening of the Seoul hydrogen station should provide momentum for Kia-Hyundai Motor and local researchers that are developing cars designed to run on hydrogen fuel cells.

When South Korean carmaker Kia Motors held a ceremonial groundbreaking in West Point, Ga., last October, Gov. Sonny Perdue called the planned $1.2 billion factory “the largest, single economic development announcement in the history of our state.”

But a perfect storm of problems could delay work on the plant, which is already behind schedule, analysts in Asia said.

A combination of weak sales, overcapacity in Asia and difficultly obtaining financing could lead Kia and its parent company Hyundai Motors to slow work on the factory, which is expected to make 300,000 vehicles annually at peak production, analysts in Seoul, Tokyo and Singapore said…

Continue reading Kia US car plant faces delay!

The all-new Kia cee’d family car has been awarded a 5-Star safety rating in the latest Euro NCAP crash test results published today. The cee’d safety ratings – 5-Stars for Adult Protection, 4-Stars for Child Protection and 2-Stars for Pedestrian Protection – place it among the C-segment’s safest cars.

“The latest Euro NCAP result is a major landmark achievement for Kia. The cee’d is designed, engineered and built in Europe, to meet or surpass the expectations of European consumers in every respect – including safety,” commented Yong-Hwan Kim, Senior Executive Vice President & COO, Kia Motors Corporation. “The combination of the car’s many talents, plus the 5-Star safety rating and the unique Kia 7-Year warranty, will make the cee’d even more attractive to European consumers, offering real peace-of-mind and low ownership costs.

“Kia’s safety engineers developed the new cee’d to provide the highest levels of occupant protection in real-world accident scenarios. Our engineers predicted that cee’d would achieve a Euro NCAP 5-Star rating and this result confirms the major advances made by Kia with its latest C-segment family car,” added Mr. Kim.

For cee’d, Kia engineers initially concentrated on ensuring that the car had high levels of ‘active safety’ with good visibility, responsive and agile handling, and powerful braking, to enable Kia drivers to avoid accidents and other everyday motoring hazards.

The cee’d family will be soon become complete, when the five door cee’d model will be complemented by the stylish cee’d wagon – in dealer showrooms from September, and the launch of the exciting new three-door pro_cee’d model at the Frankfurt Show.

According to Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President, Kia Motors Europe, “The cee’d is the first Kia product and the first Korean-brand car ever to be awarded the top rating by a European safety organisation. The introduction of the Kia cee’d has brought about a qualitative revolution for Kia, and together with our highly-productive factory in Slovakia, is beginning to change the way Kia is perceived by consumers. Most of the cee’d five-door buyers are new ‘conquest’ customers switching to the Kia brand for the first time and we expect the cee’d wagon and three-door pro_cee’d models will accelerate this trend.”

  kia-ceed_side.jpg    

Click image to enlarge or follow the link for more crash data:

EuroNcap test report (click here)

Kia Motors’ Cee’d has been awarded a five-star safety rating in the latest Euro-NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) crash test results, according to the South Korean automaker Wednesday.

Euro NCAP is greatly encouraged with the five star result achieved by the Kia Cee’d, as it is the first Kia and first Korean car to do so since Euro NCAP first tested this make of car in 2003!

Front impact
The passenger compartment remained stable during the impact. Structures in the dashboard presented a risk of injury to the knees and femurs of the driver and the passenger. The clutch pedal moved rearward more than 100mm, but there was no rupture of the footwell.

Side impact
The Cee’d scored maximum points in the side impact and pole tests

Child-protection
The car scored maximum points for the dynamic performance of the 3 year old dummy in the frontal and side impacts. The front passenger’s airbag can be disabled, allowing a rearward facing child restraint to be used in that seating position. However, information provided to the driver about the status of the airbag is not sufficiently clear. The label warning of the dangers of using a rearward facing child restraint in the passenger’s seat without first disabling the airbag was not clear and was not permanently visible. The presence of ISOFIX anchorages in the rear outboard seats was not clearly marked.

 Click image to enlarge!

[Source: EuroNCAP]

As promised yesterday, I’m bringing you a story and more images about the beautiful Kia Mojave concept vehicle. This is Kia’s first ever pick up truck ever, but only in its concept form as for now.

2004 KIA MOJAVE

Kia Motors Corporation has rapidly expanded its product line-up in North America into several new segments, including the midsize SUV, large sedan and minivan categories, but at the Chicago International Auto Show in 2004 , the fastest-growing Korean car company held a world premier for something entirely different. A concept mid-size pick-up truck dubbed the KCV4 “Mojave.”

The first pick-up truck concept Kia has ever shown in the United States, the Mojave is specifically designed to meet the needs and tastes of North American consumers. However, due to the fact that KMC does not have a suitable manufacturing location to build a truck for North America, there are no production plans at this time.

“The idea behind the Mojave project was to take advantage of Kia’s research and development resources and create a concept vehicle that is closely aligned with Kia’s positioning in North America,” said Kia official.

“Despite the fact that we do not currently have a factory with the capacity, or the location, to manufacture this truck, the Mojave is an outstanding example of what Kia is capable of delivering, and will allow us to conduct consumer research at the Chicago International Auto Show to gauge consumers’ reactions.”

The Mojave was designed at the Kia/Hyundai Research & Design Center in NamYang, South Korea, under the direction of Lee Jae-Rim, Designer and Senior Research Engineer on the Advanced Design Team at Nam Yang.

“Our design objectives for the Mojave were unique in that we attempted to combine a forward-thinking cabin with an advanced, open and modern feel that would appeal to Generation Y consumers,” said Mr. Lee. “Alternately, the exterior design combines a more traditional exterior truck profile made up of simple, basic forms that clearly communicate the rugged capability of the vehicle.”

At 130 inches, the Mojave’s wheelbase is considerably longer than the Kia Sorento platform on which it is based. The concept truck boasts a 3.8-liter, DOHC 24-valve V6 putting out an estimated 280 horsepower, coupled with a 5-speed electronically-controlled automatic transmission.

The Mojave uses power-assisted rack and pinion steering that was engineered to be capable of working with a hydraulically-controlled rear steering system that would provide maximum maneuverability while parking (counter-steer), and additional stability during lane changes or in heavy cross winds on the highway (same-phase steer).

The final piece of the handling equation is an aggressive tire and wheel package that includes 20-inch sport tires on 20-inch machine-finished wheels.

The KCV IV was named “Mojave” for two reasons. Not only does the name represent the ruggedness and beauty of the spectacular American Southwest, it also represents the geographic location (Mojave Desert, near California City, CA) where Kia and Hyundai R & D built a 4,300-acre, $50-million proving ground facility where the next generation Kia vehicles for the North American market are proving their mettle before receiving the final approvals for production.

More images: [click image to enlarge]

We have already seen some spy shots and interior teaser pictures from Kia, so we can imagine how Kia’s first full size SUV will look like. But one thing we were missing and were not convinced about, is the name of it. Not anymore!

There has been a lot of guesswork done about the name in last few months. First, Kia released a concept car named Mesa at NAIAS last year, so everybody thought this is the name for production vehicle.Right after that we heard about Offenbach, which sounds very German by the way.

But at the end, Kiaworld blog found out, that the SUV name will probably be Mojave! On the 1st of August, Kia trademarked two names for U.S. market; Mojave and Mohave. Names were chosen for a SUV vehicle. So we can assume that at least in US market, Kia’s full size SUV is going to be named Mojave.

Mojave sounds familiar doesn’t it?! Well, everyone knows Mojave desert in USA that covers about 125,000 square kilometers of southern Nevada, western Arizona, southwestern Utah, and southeastern California. But do you know that Mojave is also a name for Kia’s pick-up truck concept car from 2004?

We will write a story about that later today, just to remember you how Kia’s cool concept car looked like!

You can see Mojave teaser picture and additional information here: Teaser shot (click here)

Seems like our colleagues at Auto.cz have a reliable source of when and where is Kia testing their pre-production vehicles. They were getting tons of Kia/Hyundai spy pictures lately.

The vehicle looks boxy, but it’s meant to be this way! Younger generation people just love that. Look at the success Toyota achived with it’s youth oriented Scion brand in last few years. And Kia is targeting the same population with the upcoming Soul crossover.

Will Kia succeed? What do you think? 

Click image to enlarge:

  [Photo source: auto.cz]

Click on image to enlarge:

[Photo source: autowereld.com]

More about Mesa (HM) SUV:

1. http://www.kia-world.net/index.php/2007/08/20/spy-shots-kia-mesa/

2. http://www.kia-world.net/index.php/2007/08/15/kia-mesa-suv-heading-to-china-next-year/

3. http://www.kia-world.net/index.php/2007/08/11/kia-mesa-uncovered/

- Kia sold 98,218 vehicles globally in July

- Cumulative sales reach 717,485 , an increase of 0.2% year-on-year

Kia Motors Corporation announced that it’s global sales (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) of passenger cars, recreation vehicles and light trucks in July 2007 recorded 98,218, representing a 0.1% year-on-year increase. By region, Kia’s general markets posted a year-on-year sales increase of 15.8% in June with 16,801 units sold.

Meanwhile, sales of Kia vehicles in North America, Europe, China and Korea were 29,600 units, 26,449 units, 5,358 units and 20,010 units respectively.Cumulatively through the first seven months of 2007, Kia’s global sales increased by 0.2% year-on-year and reached 717,485 units. (more…)