A five speed manual transmission is standard with the 4 cylinder, although you can upgrade to an automatic as an option. The V6 will be coupled with the five-speed automatic. Depending on which trim level you choose, fuel mileage should be between 21 and 30 mpg.

Kia didn’t mess with the interior design as much as they did the outside. The only upgrades were added connectivity options for ease of MP3 players and such, and a slightly redesigned instrument panel. However, Kia now also offers a navigation system on the Optima as an option. Unfortunately, if you want more than just the most basic safety features, you’ll have to upgrade to an option package that includes an electronic stability system and traction control. Several of the Optima’s leading competitors already offer these things as standard equipment.

The Optima is a mid-size sedan whose main competition includes the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. The redesign was in an effort to keep up with these two wildly popular cars and only time will tell if Kia will be successful in that endeavor. Once again, the 2009 Optima is available in three different trim levels, the LX, EX, and SX, which is the sport model.

The biggest changes on the 2009 Optima are in the exterior design, especially the front end. If the tail was reworked, it was not enough to merit a mention. The grille and headlights have been the focus of the upgrade. However, for some reason, the face of this car is now slightly reminiscent of each of its chief competitors. The reshaped face also adds a few inches to the overall length. 16″ wheels are standard on each of the first two trim levels. They jump up to 17″ on the sporty SX model.

Asia, which means that their name can be loosely translated as Rising out of Asia. Kia, which is South Korea’s oldest car company, did indeed rise up.
It was founded in 1944 as a bicycle and steel tubing manufacturer. After changing its name from Kyungsung Precision Industry in 1952, Kia built motorcycles, trucks and cars, eventually partnering with Ford in 1986, to produce cars derived from Mazda platforms, both for domestic sales in Korea, and imports into other countries. These models include the Pride and Avella, which are better known in North America as the Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire.

Kia produced several Mazda derived vehicles for both domestic sales in South Korea and exports into other countries. These models include the Pride (based on the Mazda 121) and Avella, which were sold in North America and Australasia as the Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire.

In 1992, Kia Motors America was incorporated in the United States. The first Kia-branded vehicles in the United States were sold from four dealerships in Portland, Oregon in February 1994. Since then, Kia expanded methodically one region at a time. Dealers in 1994 sold the Sephia, and a few years later the United States line expanded with the addition of the Sportage.

Its CEO is Chung Eui-sun. The American arm is Kia Motors America. On October 20, 2006, Kia Motors America formally hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its first US assembly plant in West Point, Georgia, at an initial cost of over $1 billion. Since 2005, Kia has started to focus on the European market and is currently the UK’s fastest growing car company and had various other successes in the European market.

Just over a week after it was announced that the Hyundai Genesis sedan scored a perfect 5-star rating in crash tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), another product of the Hyundai-Kia group, the Kia Borrego, managed to do the same. The seven-passenger midsize SUV achieved the highest rating possible, for all seating positions in both frontal and side impact crash tests.

Even the new Kia Borrego SUV will make its way to next week’s 2008 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The Korean firm’s body-on-frame SUV has been taken into the loving care of Turbonetics which has prepared a variety of mechanical and styling modifications. The customized Borrego will feature among other things, a Gibson cat-back exhaust and K&N filter, a subtle bodykit complemented by 22-inch alloy wheels in Pirelli Scorpion Zero 265/40R22 tires and a Katzkin Leather interior with suede headliner and pillar wraps.

For this year’s SEMA Show KIA has readied a subtly customized version of its new Borrego midsize SUV. The concept combines a black exterior paintjob with limo-style tint windows and enough chrome detailing to make a ‘57 Chevy look underrated. The SUV has also been lowered for a sleeker profile and outfitted with gaudy 22-inch Avarus Chrome Wheels and Spec-X 285/45R22 tires. Open up the doors and you’re confronted with a custom-made leather interior boasting what appears to be alligator-skin (hopefully faux…) inserts on the seats. We’ll probably forget this concept in less time than it takes an F1 car to go from naught to 60.