Controlled, but not fully owned, by Hyundai, Kia has a strong range of affordable and attractive cars, but what does its name mean?
Written in Hanja (Korean words, but represented with Chinese characters), Kia is spelt 起亞 or “ki-ah”. “Ki” means to arise out of, while “ah” represents East Asia.
So, Kia literally comes out of East Asia. That’s true, if you conveniently ignore all the cars now built in Europe and the US, that is.
Fun fact, Kia once made light trucks, vans and off-road vehicles under the Asia Motors brand, which it purchased in 1976. The Asia Motors name was discontinued in 1999.
