Kia started in December 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry, a maker of bicycle parts, and built Korea's first bicycle in 1952. Its name means rising from Asia to the world.
- Country
-
South Korea - Active
- Since 1944
- Founded by
- Kim Cheol-ho
- Website
- Official website ↗
Saddles, rims and a bicycle called Samchully
Kia’s story starts with bicycle parts, not cars. In December 1944 Kim Cheol-ho founded Kyungsung Precision Industry, and its first plant opened in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. There were no bicycles being made in Korea at the time. Kim wanted to change that, and his small company began with tires, pedals and saddles. In August 1949 it made its first export: Korean-made saddles shipped to Hong Kong.
The Korean War pushed the factory south to Busan in 1951. There the company finally mastered the bicycle rim, the part it had been missing. In 1952 it launched Korea’s first bicycle, the 3000-Liho, or Samchully. The name refers to the distance from the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula to its northern tip, a quiet wish for a reunited country.
Two characters, one ambition
The same year, the company took a new name: Kia Industries. Kia is written 起亞 in Chinese characters, and Kia explains it as “rising from Asia to the world”. It was a big promise for a firm that made bicycles in a war-torn country. Motorcycles followed with the C-100 in 1961, then the K-360 three-wheeler in 1962, Kia’s first automobile.
The name changed twice more. In March 1990 Kia Industries became Kia Motors, to show it was now a dedicated car company. In 2021 the word Motors was dropped, and the company simply became Kia.
A drafting triangle, a gear and a benzene ring
Kia’s first logo appeared in 1953, and it was busy. The Kia lettering sat inside a triangle, a gear and a benzene ring. According to Kia, the triangle stood for a drafting tool, the gear for the mechanical industry and the benzene ring for the chemical industry. It was a badge for a country taking its first steps toward industrialisation, and it was carried on products like the Samchully.
By the company’s 20th anniversary, people inside Kia felt it was too complex for a carmaker. An internal competition produced the 1964 logo, built from two Korean letters, ㄱ and ㅇ. Kia’s brand site reads them as K and A. Its heritage archive goes further: the ㄱ stands for 起, to rise, and the ㅇ for 亞, Asia, and also for a wheel. In an era of motorcycles and three-wheelers, that circle mirrored the products themselves. This mark lasted 22 years.
In 1986 the English name came back. Above the word Kia flew a flag made of three flowing curves. Kia says they represent trust and cooperation, effort and creativity, and a pioneering spirit on the rise. Car fans had their own name for it, though. Because the curves looked like smoke rising from a chimney, they called it the “chimney emblem”.
From a red oval to a signature in the sky
The oval badge arrived in 1994, unveiled for Kia’s 50th anniversary as the company prepared for a full push into global markets. An oval wrapped around the Kia name. According to Kia, the oval symbolised the globe. In 2004 it gained dimensionality and an adjusted colour palette, and a later update fine-tuned its form and gradients. Kia says the red oval etched the brand into the minds of global consumers for the next quarter of a century.
Then, in January 2021, the oval was gone. Kia’s press release, dated 6 January 2021, introduced a new logo designed to resemble a handwritten signature, together with a new global slogan: “Movement that inspires”. The reveal came with a spectacle over Incheon: 303 pyrodrones launching hundreds of fireworks in a synchronised display. It set a Guinness World Records title for the most unmanned aerial vehicles launching fireworks simultaneously.
Kia explains the new logo through three ideas:
- Symmetry. Confidence, and the trust that customers place in the brand.
- Rhythm. The logo is one continuous, unbroken line, a sign of Kia’s commitment to bringing moments of inspiration.
- Rising. The diagonally ascending strokes echo the meaning of Ki, to rise, and Kia’s rising ambitions for the brand.
So the newest logo looks nothing like the old ones, yet it carries the same idea as the 1952 name and the ㄱ of 1964. Kia has been rising for a long time.
Why Kia went red
The 1994 oval’s boldest move was its colour. Kia’s heritage archive notes that most domestic car brands were using shades of blue at the time, so choosing red was a daring decision that gave Kia a distinctive identity. Kia says the red expressed the brand’s drive and dynamism on the world stage.
From pedals to E-GMP
Few carmakers can trace a straight line from a bicycle saddle to an electric SUV. Kia can, and each step wore a different badge.
Landmark Kias, decade by decade
- 1952: 3000-Liho (Samchully). Korea’s first bicycle, and one of the products that carried Kia’s first logo.
- 1962: K-360. A compact three-wheeler and Kia’s first automobile, built for Korea’s narrow, steep roads.
- 1974: Brisa. Kia’s first passenger car with an in-house developed engine. At one point it made up nearly half of all taxis in Seoul.
- 1986: Besta EV. Described by Kia as Korea’s first and the world’s third electric vehicle. It served as a marathon broadcasting vehicle at the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
- 1991: Sportage. Unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1991. Kia calls it the world’s first urban SUV, and it became Kia’s longest-running model.
- 2021: EV6. Kia’s first dedicated electric vehicle, and the first Korean car to win both European Car of the Year (2022) and North American Car of the Year (2023).
Kia has rarely worked alone. The Pride of 1987 came from a three-nation alliance in which Kia handled production, Mazda the design and Ford the sales. After the Asian financial crisis, Kia was acquired by Hyundai Motor in 1998, and the two have since competed and cooperated within Hyundai Motor Group while keeping distinct designs. Curious how other Korean badges compare? See SsangYong and Daewoo, or read how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Kia logo mean?
Kia describes its 2021 logo as a handwritten signature built on three ideas: symmetry for confidence and trust, rhythm in its single unbroken line, and rising strokes that echo the meaning of Ki, to rise.
What does the name Kia mean?
Kia is written 起亞 in Chinese characters. According to Kia, it means “rising from Asia to the world”. The company adopted the name in 1952, when Kyungsung Precision Industry became Kia Industries.
When did Kia change its logo?
The red oval logo arrived in 1994 for Kia’s 50th anniversary. It was replaced in January 2021 by the current signature-style logo, revealed with a record-setting show of 303 pyrodrones over Incheon.
Who founded Kia?
Kim Cheol-ho, who founded Kyungsung Precision Industry in December 1944 to make bicycles and bicycle parts in Korea.
Bicycle rims to a rhythmic signature
- Founded
- 1944
- Founder
- Kim Cheol-ho
- Country
- South Korea
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Parent company
- Hyundai Motor Group
- Current emblem
- The Kia name drawn as a rhythmic, unbroken line like a handwritten signature, introduced in January 2021
- Known for
- Korea's first bicycle, the Sportage and the EV6
- Website
- Official website ↗
