Kia’s large RWD sedan goes by a multitude of names (K9, K900 and Quoris), but what do they mean, and why are there so many different badges for one car?
When Kia first unveiled its new large rear-wheel drive sedan, based on the Hyundai Genesis, in 2012, it revealed that it would be badged as the K9 in South Korea. There it would top a range including the K3 (Forte/Cerato), K5 (Optima) and K7 (Cadenza).
In any country where English is spoken fluently, though, the name K9 is rather too close to canine, implying that the car is a bit of a dog or just a little bit rubbish.
So, not long afterwards, the company revealed that the K9 would be sold as the Quoris outside of its home market.
According to Kia, the name Quoris is derived from the English words “core” and “quality”, which really should make it the Quority.
There was just one little snag in the works, the car maker Qoros. Apart from being spelt similarly, both Qoros and Quoris are meant to be pronounced “chorus”.
Qoros, a joint venture between Geely and Israel Corp, had already trademarked the name in China, EU and the US. The company quickly went filed an injunction, forcing Kia to adopt the K900 name in many markets.
The K9 is sold as the Quoris in many parts of the globe, though, including Russia, South America and the Middle East.
