Kia

Origins and the early expansion

Kia was founded in May 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry (경성정밀공업; 京城精密工業), a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts, eventually producing South Korea's first domestic bicycle, the Samchuly, in 1951. In 1952, Kyungsung Precision Industry changed its name to Kia Industries. The company later built Honda-licensed small motorcycles (starting in 1957), as well as Mazda-licensed trucks (1962).

The company opened its first integrated automotive assembly plant, the Sohari Plant, in 1973. Its first modele were the Mazda-based Brisa range of small cars in 1974 and the Brisa II/K303 family car in 1975. It also assembled two French models under license: the Fiat 132 and the Peugeot 604. The import of these knock-down kits was permitted as long as Kia exported five cars for every single Fiat or Peugeot brought in; Hyundai had to meet the same requirement.

In 1981, the new military dictator Chun Doo-hwan enforced industry consolidation. This forced Kia to stop producing passenger cars and focus entirely on light trucks. Kia assembled a few hundred more cars in 1982 and 1983, after the ban had taken effect, but no passenger cars were built in 1984 or 1985.

Kia rejoined the automobile industry in 1986, in partnership with American company Ford. It built only 26 units the first year, but quickly grew to over 95,000 the next year. Kia produced several Mazda-derived vehicles both for domestic sales in South Korea and for export into other countries, where they were positioned at the budget end of the market. These models included the Kia Pride, based on the Mazda 121, and the Avella, which were sold in North America and Australasia as the Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire. Kia Industries was renamed Kia Motors Corporation in 1990.

In 1992, Kia Motors America was incorporated in the United States. The first Kia-branded car in the United States, the Sephia, began sales the following year from four dealerships in Portland, Oregon. The Sephia went for sale in Europe in 1994. The company then expanded its line with the Sportage sport utility vehicle, which was also built in Germany by Karmann for the European market. Over one hundred Kia dealerships existed across thirty states by 1995, selling a record 24,740 automobiles.