Kia

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The Kia Story Began in 1944 with the founding of a small company whose business focused on making bicycle wheels. Within a year, a factory had been completed in Seoul, Korea, laying the groundwork for what would become a major bicycle manufacturing operation.

During the Korean war (1950-53), the company relocated to the relative calm of the southern port city of Pusan. Here, it was renamed Kia Industries and began production of the first domestically manufactured Bicycle, the Samcholli, in 1952. After the war ended, Kia set up another plant in Shiheung in 1957 to meet growing demand for it's bicycle. The 1970s were a decade in which Kia firmly established itself as a Korean auto industry leader.

By the mid 1970's, Kia was starting to expand its business interests. In 1976, it acquired commercial vehicle maker Asia Motors and, in 1978, it began making diesel engines. As the decade came down to a close, Kia's reputation and quality won it the right in 1979 to produce the Peugeot 604 and fiat 132 for the local market.

During the first half of the 1980's; political realities forced Kia to focus on new commercial vehicle production. This lead to the introduction of the popular Bongo family of light trucks and vans early in the decade.

The 1990s started with the company taking on it's current name, Kia Motors. The fully automated 3.3 million square meter Hwasung plant complex also came online during 1990, more than doubling the Kia's production capacity to 700,000 units annually.

In 1994, Kia celebrated its 50th anniversary with the launch of the new corporate identity which is still used today.