Kia

In Australia, Kia is best known for its affordable vehicle lineup that spans small hatches, sedans, compact and medium-sized SUVs, and even large SUVs, people-movers and in recent years, sports cars.

The compact Picanto and Rio played a key role for Kia who offered generous equipment lists and low pricetags for its city-car lineup, which has expanded across all major segments in recent years.

Kia produces a high-quality vehicle at an impressive price, with all models benefitting from a seven-year warranty and a heap of safety equipment as standard, even in base models.

In terms of the sheer volume of units sold, the Kia Cerato is currently the best-selling Kia vehicle in Australia, with around 18,000 units sold last year. This was followed by the Seltos and the Sportage SUV range, which reported sales of 8,884 and 7,949 respectively throughout 2021, while the Stonic sold 7,645 units.

The pint-sized Kia Picanto sold 6,591 units last year, which was followed by the Kia Carnival with 5,862 deliveries, the Rio with 5,644 units sold, and finally the Kia Sorento which saw 5,126 vehicles purchase in Australia.

There is nothing to suggest that one particular Kia model is more reliable than another.

Kia underwent a major revamp of its logo for the 2022 model year (MY22), with all vehicles produced after that date receiving the new logo.

However, some vehicles that are currently in dealerships are still wearing the old Kia logo, mainly because they were produced before the model year of 2022. This gradual change will result in the updated logo being applied to all new Kia vehicles produced for MY22.

Kia parts and genuine accessories are both covered by Kia’s new car warranty, so long as they’re installed by an authorised Kia dealership. If they are installed by the dealership, the accessories are covered by a one-year warranty period from the date of the purchase.

In the case a replacement part is used under the warranty period, that part is covered under the remainder of the new vehicle warranty, rather than a 12-month period after installation.

Kia parts and accessories that are installed by a party other than an authorised Kia dealership are covered by a parts and accessory warranty that offers 1-year/20,000km of coverage; whichever lapses first.

Kia’s seven-year warranty does indeed cover replacement of a new battery in the event it breaks down within two-years from the date of purchase. Unfortunately, the new car warranty does not extend to the replacement of tyres, which are considered a consumable item under Kia’s warranty terms.

Kia has rebranded its UVO link system to what’s known as the Kia Connect system. This is effectively a smartphone application that offers owners the ability to track their car in the case it’s stolen, lock or unlock the doors, change the climate control settings, gain real-time navigation data via their phone or even smartwatch.

Kia Connect memberships are part of a paid subscription model, however, purchasing a new Kia vehicle typically includes 12-months of Kia Connect, formerly known as the UVO system.