First Drive: 2011 Kia Optima

Optima Prime Kia continues its product renaissance with a family sedan for drivers By John LeBlanc Key West, Fla. – On average, Canadian new car buyers return to purchase new again about every seven or eight years. If you happen to be one of those buyers today, you may feel like Rumpelstiltskin if you haven’t […]

2010 L.A. Show: Kia rolls right into the luxury hybrid segment with new Optima

[svgallery name=”2010_LA_Kia”] By John LeBlanc LOS ANGELES – Although its been available in other markets for a few months, Kia picked the import-friendly California market to debut the North American version of its new Optima mid-size sedan.

The Crank: Kia’s naming conundrum

[svgallery name=”2010_Kia_Seoul_preview”] By John LeBlanc On a recent trip to Hyundai-Kia Motors world headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, attending media had some time to chat with Kia head pen, Peter Schreyer. While the discussions centred around the brand’s’s new European-influenced (Schreyer is a former Audi designer) styling, inevitably, the topic turned to all the automaker’s […]

Preview: 2011 Kia Sportage, 2012 Optima & Cadenza

[svgallery name=”2010_Kia_Seoul_preview”] By John LeBlanc NAMYUNG, South Korea –As part of the Korean automaker’s aggressive move up market, Kia will have replaced every vehicle in its showroom by 2012. So to give Canadian media a “taste” of things to come, Kia officials bused a dozen of us to its expansive research and design facilities it […]

« go back