Over the last few years, Kia has built a solid reputation in the new car market by producing beautifully designed, fuel efficient, affordable vehicles.

That, combined by positive reviews from consumers and industry insiders has helped propel Kia to new highs in sales and service. Public perception of the Kia brand has improved dramatically during that period, and now that they have turned their attention to their used cars, we can probably expect to see it rise some more.

On October 24th, Kia Motors America announced that it had chosen Carfax to provide vehicle history reports for every car in the Kia Certified Pre-Owned -CPO program. This means that buyers can be sure than any Kia vehicle they buy through the nationwide network of dealers will have a detailed, accurate history, which will go a long way towards providing piece of mind when purchasing a used Kia car.

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Athletes have always been popular spokesperson choices for companies that want to represent their brand as strong, powerful and full of finesse, but other than sponsorship deals, it’s not too often that a product makes its way into the wide world of sports at the field level.

That all changed earlier this year, when at the NBA All-Star Game, basketball superstar Blake Griffin leapt over a Kia Optima and easily walked away as the champion of the ever popular slam dunk contest.

Shortly after the event, which garnered worldwide exposure, the slam dunk heard round the world was used in a highly effective advertising campaign for the new Optima, using the catchphrase of “not your average dunk, not your average midsize sedan.”

That one-off shot did more to raise awareness about the Kia Optima than perhaps any other advertising method used previously, and it once again highlighted the power that sports holds over the buying public.

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2012 Kia Optima goes on sale with superior combination of performance, technology and long list of convenience features!

Every automaker has one car that seems to lead the way and ends up being the flagship vehicle that defines the image and message that the maker is trying to get across with their entire line-up.

For Kia Motors America, many would argue that the Optima sedan has gone a long way towards becoming that vehicle, and with its incredible performance in the midsize market, it’s certainly the one that stands out among all the other cars in that category.

The 2011 Kia Optima wowed critics and consumers alike, picking up awards and shattering sales records in the process. It would have been easy for Kia to leave well enough alone for the 2012 version, but their approach to improving design, performance and fuel efficiency has led to the popular Optima mid-size sedan receiving some improvements that are sure to continue the trend set with the previous model.

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The all-new 2012 Kia Rio 4-door sedan with new upscale looks, 1.6L GDI engine and six-speed manual transmission priced at $13.400!

Kia Motors America has officially announced pricing for its all-new 2012 Rio 4-door sedan with 6-speed manual transmission starts at $13.600 and $14.500 for the sedan with 6-speed automatic transmission. Prices provided here exclude $750 destination and handling fee!

The all-new Rio 4-door sedan is offered in the following trims: LX, EX, and SX. The top-of-the-range 2012 Kia Rio SX starts at under $18.000 and offers a plethora of premium features including LED front accent lights and LED tail-lamps, Supervision cluster, leather-wrapped steering wheel, dual illuminated vanity mirrors, rear-view camera, sporty 17-inch alloy wheels and Kia’s voice-activated infotainment system called UVO.

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They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and where most automakers focus on making their vehicles beautiful to the naked eye, Kia opts to embrace all the senses, so that their cars have a beauty that is more than just skin deep.

The Kia approach to car design differs greatly from their competitors, but that has paid off in spades in recent years with sales and positive reviews growing at a stunning rate. They bring together a group of people, from all over the world who are passionate about the brand, and those engineers, designers and project managers have a say in the final product, where their passion is all to evident.

That though process was very much put into play when it came to designing the new Kia Rio. Their idea was to make a compact car that oozed luxury in every detail, yet still came in a price that would expect from a car in the compact category.

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2012 Kia Venga mini-mpv production moved from Czech Republic to Slovakia!

Kia announced today it has moved production of its popular Venga mini-MPV to Slovakia. Located in the city of Zilina, Kia’s highly-advanced manufacturing plant now produces the 2012 Venga, Sportage CUV and the family of cee’d vehicles.

Previously, Kia Venga was built at Hyundai’s manufacturing pant in Czech Republic,which can produce up to 300.000 new vehicles per year (same as Kia’s European plant). Venga was produced alongside Hyundai ix20 mini-MPV, which shares the core powertrain technology with its sibling model from Kia.

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Would you like to find out exclusive details about Kia’s near future plans, sales projections and new powertrain technologies coming to the next-generation Kia vehicles? Read further!

Automotive News Europe Editor-in-Chief Harald Hamprecht had a chance to chat with Mr. Hank Lee, Vice Chairman of Kia Motors Corporation. A very interesting  interview, which is published at Automotive News website, reveals some details on how Kia plans to enhance the perception of the brand to become a people’s choice.

Kia made huge progress in the quality of their vehicles and the company aims to further improve its up-coming vehicles. According to Mr. Hank Lee, the brand is working hard to enhance ride and handling of its cars and introduce new powertrain technologies. Reportedly, Kia is working on a series of eco-friendly cars, including a full-electric small crossover vehicle, Optima 2.0L hybrid car and fuel cell powered vehicle.  (more…)

Kia has been sweeping up the award and accolades in recent months, but may very well be the first car company to receive an award for the animals that are used to sell one of their models.

Back in 2009, the South Korean carmaker used a trio of hip-hop, funky hamsters in the TV spots for their cool new urban passenger vehicle, the Kia Soul. The hamsters helped propel the success of the Soul, and in an incredibly short time made the switch from cool marketing tool to cultural icon status.

That meteoric rise to pop icon fame hasn’t gone unnoticed in the advertising world, and earlier this week the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame presented the hamsters with their inaugural “Rookie of the Year” award.

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Kia Motors America reports total sales of 35.609 units vehicles in September 2011, a 18 percent increase compared to September 2010!

With year-to-date sales up more than 37 percent, Kia Motors America beats its previous record annual sales total in less than nine months! During the first 9 months of the year, Kia sold 367,405 vehicles in the States, as compared to 268,024 units sold last year.

Leading Kia’s sales last month were the 2012 Sorento CUV and the urban-oriented Soul with 11,112 and 6,666 units respectively. Following the carmaker’s popular crossover vehicles was Kia Optima sedan with 6,191 units sold. The C-segment Forte came in fourth, selling 5,458 units, while the Sportage compact CUV rounded Kia’s top sellers at 3,589 units.

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