It is South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer, after its parent company, Hyundai Motor Company , with sales of over 2. As of , [update] Kia is owned by Hyundai , which holds a Kia in turn is a minority owner of more than twenty Hyundai subsidiaries ranging from 4. Kia was founded on June 9, , as Kyungsung Precision Industry, a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts, eventually producing Korea's first domestic bicycle, the Samchuly , in The company opened its first integrated automotive assembly plant in , the Sohari Plant.
This forced Kia to give up passenger cars and focus entirely on light trucks. Prior to the forced shutdown, Kia had rounded out its passenger car lineup with two other foreign models assembled under license: the Fiat [ 13 ] [ 14 ] and the Peugeot Starting in when only 26 cars were manufactured, followed by over 95, the next year , [ 18 ] Kia rejoined the automobile industry in partnership with Ford. Kia produced several Mazda-derived vehicles for both domestic sales in South Korea and for export into other countries - where they were positioned at the budget end of the market.
The first Kia-branded vehicles in the United States were sold from four dealerships in Portland, Oregon , in Dealers in sold the Sephia and a few years later the United States segment expanded their line with the Sportage.
Over one hundred Kia dealerships existed across thirty states by , selling a record 24, automobiles. Kia declared bankruptcy in , during the Asian financial crisis , and in reached an agreement with Hyundai Motor Company to diversify by exchanging ownership between the two companies.
Since , Kia has focused on the European market and has identified design as its "core future growth engine" โ leading to the hiring of Peter Schreyer in as chief design officer [ 24 ] and his subsequent creation of a new corporate grille known as the 'Tiger Nose'.
