In recent years it’s pretty fair to say that Kia Motors has turbocharged their approach to design and quality improvements, so it only seems appropriate that they would announce plans to introduce two turbocharged vehicles for entry into the 2012 motorsports world.

Kia and Kinetic Motorsports have partnered to create a pair of Optima SX’s that will be entered into the Pirelli World Challenge Championships. It doesn’t end there though, and Kia will also be entering into B-Spec racing with the all-new 2012 Rio 5-door, as well as having an Optima Hybrid as the pace car at all United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) events.

This is another building block on top of the motorsports foundation for Kia that was created with their success in the Continental Tire Sports car Challenge, where the Forte Koup won the constructor’s and driver’s championships in 2011.

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Kia Ray Video previews the South Korean first-ever KEI car, which goes on sale at the end of November.

Kia Ray Video:

The all-new 2012 Kia Rio sub-compact car has been awarded a 5-star safety rating in the latest EuroNCAP crash tests!

New Kia Rio is not just good to look at and fun to drive, but also safe on road. Earlier today, the EuroNCAP released its latest crash test results which confirmed that the 2012 Rio hatchback provides the highest levels of occupant protection in real-world accident scenarios.

The 2012 Rio received a maximum 5-star safety rating and became the sixth Kia vehicle to get the top safety rating. The car performed well in both frontal and side impacts and obtained an impressive score of 92 percent for adult occupant protection and 84 percent for child occupant protection. In addition, the Rio also obtained scores of 46 percent for pedestrian protection and 86 percent for safety assist.

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Kia Motors Korea drops new image and more information about Ray’s engine / gearbox options… 

Kia has finally released some official details about the all-new Ray city car, which made its official “on-line” premiere last week with the release of first official images. Set to go on sale next week, the 2013 Ray will be marketed exclusively in South Korea where it will be available with Kia’s new 1.0L Kappa engine.

Initially, the Ray will only be available with the 1.0L three-cylinder gasoline engine, while later, the vehicle will also get a full-electric powertrain. We have no information about the full-electric model at this point, but we do know that the gasoline-powered Kia Ray will generate 78 horsepower and 9.6 kilogram-meters of torque. Mated to the fuel-sipping 3-cylinder engine will be the 4-speed automatic transmission.

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Anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of the current new car market will be quick to point out that Kia’s producing some of the best designed, fuel efficient vehicles out there.

And thanks to the trio of hip-hop hamsters who promote the Kia Soul in the TV ads, that has become one of the more sought after models in their entire line-up. A big part of Kia’s re-design process over the last few years has been aimed at providing all the positives mention earlier, but doing so at a price that is more than a little competitive.

It’s a fantastic approach that has paid off in spades in regards of sales, but there are still people who, for one reason or another, simply cannot afford to buy a new car.

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Kia has built up a solid reputation of producing quality, fuel efficient vehicles at an affordable price, and while it’s one thing for them to talk about it in their ads and press releases, it’s quite another to have that hard work and dedication recognized by a trusted, reliable source.

That recognition came this week in the form of 4 Kia vehicles being voted “Best Buys” by Consumer’s Digest, a leading consumer resource for automotive reviews. The cars which were given the honor were the 2012 versions of the Optima, Soul, Sorento and Sportage, and the news completed a great October for Kia, who once again managed to set another sales record, which now makes 14 consecutive months of upward sales trends.

Kia Motors America vice president of marketing and communications Michael Sprague expressed the company’s delight with the showing in the magazine, stating that the recognition proves that awareness of the company brand, and their commitment to quality, is very much on the rise.

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Kia Ray box-type city car revealed in South Korea!

Earlier today, Kia Motors Corporation unveiled a brand-new city-car called Ray, which will be marketed exclusively in South Korea. Known previously as Kia TAM (development codename), the all-new city-car belongs to the A-segment and is built upon the Picanto city-car platform.

As seen from the two official images, the all-new Kia Ray sports a distinctive box-type exterior design. Up-front, it boasts the brand’s H-shaped signature radiator grille and unique headlamps and LED daytime running lights. From the rear, the 2013 Ray presents a wide and stable stance, highlighted by prominent LED rear combination lamps and vertically positioned bumper reflectors.

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Kia made headlines in the sports world when basketball star Blake Griffin leaped over an Optima sedan en route to winning the slam dunk contest at the NBA All-Star Game earlier this year.

Now they are making headlines in the automotive sphere thanks to their six sports-themed vehicles, unveiled at this year’s Specialty Equipment Market Association -SEMA car show in Las Vegas. Displayed at Kia’s booth at the on-going 2011 SEMA are heavily customized 2012 Optima hybrid car, Soul crossover vehicle, Rio 5-door and Forte 5-door hatchbacks.

The one of a kind, custom cars were created in partnership with West Coast Customs, Antenna Magazine, GoGoGear.com and Kinetic Motorsports, and were designed with six specific sports in mind.

“Slam Dunk” Blake Griffin Optima Hybrid car

It’s no real surprise that the Optima would be one of the vehicles to get the custom treatment, and even less of a surprise that it was done with Griffin in mind. The Griffin Hybrid came in a basketball orange color and was accentuated by 20 inch matte black wheels, and Blake’s logo on the hood.

The interior features leather seats with Blake’s signature stitched into the headrests, not to mention basketball flooring in the front and rear. The interior was finished off with a mind-blowing sound system, complete with TV’s and an Xbox. The final kicker for hoops fans had to be the basketball hoop mounted in the trunk.

Gallery: Kia @ 2011 SEMA:

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These are the very-first interior images of the forth-coming Kia K9 luxury limousine!

Just recently, we got a fairly good look at the Kia K9′s exterior styling, but nothing on interior, unfortunately. This time around, our friends from South Korea sent us some exclusive Kia K9 spy shots allowing us to see the interior lay-out of the high-end sedan for the first time.

Set to be officially revealed in the first half of 2012, the up-coming Kia K9 is rumored to be based on the hot-selling Hyundai Genesis sedan, meaning the engine’s power will be transmitted to the car’s rear wheels. Kia K9 will be the very-first rear-wheel-drive Kia vehicle, but hopefully, not the last one!

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On the heels of record October sales, Kia reveals plans to build new manufacturing plant in China!

In order to meet fast growing demand for its latest vehicles such as Kia K2 (known as Kia Rio in USA) and Kia K5 (Chinese version of Kia Optima sedan), the South Korean second largest carmaker announced today it aims to build already its third manufacturing plant in China.

Kia’s new China plant will be build in the northeastern city of Yancheng and will be able to produce up to 300.000 new vehicles annually. Once completed, Kia will have increased its production capacity in China from the current 430.000 units at its existing two plants to a total of 730.000 units each year.

The third plant will be built just 5 kilometers from one of the existing Kia plants, which is expected to boost efficiency since the two can share production-related infrastructure.

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Kia reports best October sales, while its overall U.S. sales to date surpass 400.000 units!

Kia Motors America today reported record October U.S. sales of 37.690 vehicles, topping the 31.199 vehicles sold in October 2010.  With the record October 2011 results, the Kia brand surpassed 400.000 annual U.S. sales for the very-first time in its history!

Kia’s October 2011 result represents a 21 percent increase in sales compared to a year ago, while the carmaker’s year-to-date sales represent a 35 gain from a year earlier.

The favorable Kia sales performance in October 2011 was bolstered by consumer response to the all-new 2012 Kia Sorento and the 2012 Kia Optima mid-size sedan. Sales of the new Sorento hit 10.176 units last month, while Optima sales rose from 1.630 units in October 2010 to 8.616 units sold in October 2011.

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