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Kia's brand perception still painfully lags behind reality

I can't tell you how many times I've been driving with friends or family in a decidedly nice Korean press car, only to have a passenger notice the logo on the steering wheel and exclaim, "Wait... this is a Kia?" For every time I roll my eyes at a story with a lede about how Hyundai "is really gaining momentum these days," I get equally annoyed when people comment on how Kia is finally starting to make decent cars. This is hardly news. The brand has been pumping out really solid stuff for a while now.
But as it turns out, not everyone knows that. According to Ward's Auto, speaking to Kia marketing chief Michael Sprague, the automaker recently placed third-to-last in a recent ALG Brand Perception of Quality study, only besting Suzuki and Smart. Wow.
Ward's notes that Kia recently earned a credible sixth place in J.D. Power & Associates' Initial Quality Study, and yet still fell way behind pretty much every other brand in the ALG study. The Korean automaker's cars have also won numerous awards in recent years, and have generally earned positive reviews from the media, Autoblog included.

Kia's Super Bowl ad parks the Optima in a Walken closet

Kia has a weird marketing strategy to sell the Optima in its Super Bowl commercial titled Walken Closet. The humorous spot stars actor Christopher Walken who appears to live in a closet, and he describes the South Korean brand's midsize sedan as "as the world's most exciting pair of socks." Walken is famous for his unique voice, and he enunciates Kia Optima in this ad like no one else can. The ad markets the Optima as the midsize sedan for customers who want something more exciting from the segment. According to Walken, other vehicles are like beige socks, but the Kia has "pizzazz." Comparing a vehicle to a pair of socks still doesn't get the heart racing, though. You can watch a 90-second version of Walken Closet above. Kia will premiere the 60-second cut during the four quarter of the Super Bowl. CHRISTOPHER WALKEN ADDS "PIZZAZZ" TO KIA MOTORS' SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL FOR THE ALL-NEW OPTIMA MIDSIZE SEDAN Kia is the First Brand to Utilize a New Technology Solution from Influential That Taps IBM Watson for Influencer Identification as Part of Multifaceted Marketing Campaign Extended cut of "Walken Closet" can be viewed now at YouTube.com/Kia; 60-second broadcast version will debut during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 50 #AddPizzazz social media campaign includes partnerships with Mobile First influencer platform Influential, social media creator network Niche, and lifestyle apparel brand Stance, to engage creators and generate content across a variety of channels IRVINE, Calif., February 2, 2016 – There's no one quite like Christopher Walken – he is an original. And in Kia Motors America's (KMA) 2016 Super Bowl commercial, the Academy Award-winner employs a colorfully stylish sock to demonstrate how the next generation Optima stands out in the midsize sedan segment filled with entries that look and drive the same. Premiering today on YouTube.com/Kia – and set to air in the fourth quarter of the big game – "Walken Closet" is the centerpiece of Kia's multiplatform campaign spotlighting the all-new 2016 Optima as the vibrant alternative for those searching for more in a vehicle segment whose hallmarks are basic, boring and uninspired. As Walken explains in the spot, "There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who are content to blend in ... then there are those who expect more. They're exciting.

The 2018 Stinger fulfills Kia's sport-sedan destiny

A little more than five years ago, Kia rolled out the GT Concept - a sheetmetal hypothetical musing on where the brand's sporting aspirations might go. Today on the eve of the Detroit Auto Show Kia unveiled the Stinger, the production version of that 2011 show car. While Kia Motors America says "the Stinger really is a dream car for us," enthusiasts anticipating something a lot racier have sobered up over the distance between the concept and the production reality. Nevertheless, the new Stinger will be the sportiest Kia ever, and not by a little. True, there's a lot of Optima in the body - it's too bad they couldn't have made the 2014 GT concept - but details everywhere separate the Stinger from the bread-and-butter sedan. The Stinger's wheelbase is four inches longer than the Optima's, yet overall length is an inch shorter. The brand's corporate face looks to have dabbled in CrossFit, the wide, narrow "tiger-nose" grille jutting out ahead of plenty of black mesh, new LED headlamps, and a new hood with twin hood vents. Side vents and sharp sills carve up the flanks, and side mirrors mount on the bodywork instead of at the A-pillar. In back, the deck lid gently curves upward becoming an integrated spoiler above elongated LED taillights, and a full-length rear diffuser houses four oval tailpipes. Inside, the dual-zone instrument panel boasts a "large" color touchscreen for infotainment, metal-accented dash gauges with red needles, and a small, color TFT screen in the binnacle for displaying tidbits like G-forces and lap times. Luxury touches include a heads-up display, an optional 720-watt, 15-speaker Harmon/Kardon audio system with two subwoofers, a driver's seat that can be had with air-cell bladders for a snug fit, and lots of driver assistance systems. When the Stinger goes on sale late this year customers get a choice of two engines that are currently still in development. The base model employs a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with around 255 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. The upper trim, known as the Stinger GT, goes with the 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 found in the Genesis G90 and expected to put out the same numbers: 365 hp and 376 lb-ft. Both motors will shift through the eight-speed automatic shared with the Kia K900 but refined with a centrifugal pendulum absorber for reduced vibration. If all goes to plan, the dash from zero to 62 miles per hour will take 5.1 seconds with the 3.3-liter V6, with top speed capped at 167 mph.