Here Comes Kia

[nissangirl74]

Today, the first Kia built in the United States rolled off the assembly line in Georgia. A 2011 Sorento SUV. One of 300,000 vehicles to be built here annually by the auto maker. Kia employs 2,500 people in their 2,200 acre facility that they invested over $1 billion dollars to build. The first thought that came to mind was "Here come the Koreans", especially considering the success Kia and hyundai have both had in the past several years. I wonder if anyone at the Big 3 felt like this when Nissan and Toyota first came to America?

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[MinisterofDOOM]

Kia is pulling the same wuss garbage everyone else is: the 1st gen Sorento was a truck. Body on ladder frame, longitudinal motor, real drivetrain. The 2nd gen? It's a unibody with a transverse 4 banger.

It's a good thing Nissan still makes the Pathy and Xterra, because everyone else has neutered their "SUVs." Nissan and Toyota are the ONLY options left for people who want an actual SUV.

[Razi]

What is up with all the FWD "SUV"s?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Oh, but they have AWD, not FWD!

Just don't take a look underneath. I swear my turn signal stalks are thicker than the axles on most of those little "SUVs".

That's not an axle, that's a toothpick. And look at that cute wittle diff housing! Isn't it ADORABLE!?

[Razi]

Might as well be FWD.

I used to think those were sway bars I saw, then I looked under one and laughed.

[HashiriyaS14]

First off, anything on a unibody isn't really an SUV, it's a crossover. An X5, RX350, Murano, Venza, or whatever are all crossovers, it doesn't matter how much ground clearance they have.

Honestly, MOST people who buy SUV's/Crossovers don't do it for ground clearance and don't do it for towing capacity....they do it for interior space and because they like a high seating position. They could really get away with wagons or minivans, but consider both of those dorky.

It's GOOD that these people aren't driving real trucks, because they don't know how. We'll never get them to buy wagons or vans, so the least we can do is build them stupid crossovers.

Most SUV/Crossover sales are made to urban/suburban buyers who will NEVER own anything that needs towing and will NEVER leave a developed area.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I take no issue with car companies making small crossovers of that sort. My problem is that there are already seventeen of them from each company, and now those same companies are replacing all their trucks with them, too. Great, make crossovers. But people still need trucks. Trailblazer is dead...now you can buy a Traverse YAY. Explorer is Taurus-based now. How many freaking Taurus-based crossovers does Ford need?! Taurus Wagon, Edge, Flex, MKT, Explorer. Yeah, we NEED all those cars. Let's not have ANY trucks but let's sell FIVE identical freaking crossovers. That's my beef.

This is no better than the stupid badge-carbon-copying that the american brands caught hell for in the 90s. I don't want 7 brands of the same cars, and I don't want 7 names on the same crossover.

It's not likely I would have ever bought a Sorento, truck or not, but it's just another straw on the back. Unless you buy Toyota or Nissan, within 2 years there won't be ANY options left. That's a crappy spot to be in as a consumer. Fine for me, as I am very fond of Nissan's entire truck/SUV lineup. But what about people who wanted a Trailblazer? Guess they're screwed.And it also worries me that the Frontier may go soft in the future or the Xterra could die off completely. The trend is not a positive one. Regardless of soccer moms and their driving abilities, the world's need for trucks has not changed. The availability of trucks is changing for the worse, though.

As for Kia being a real threat:They are NOT going to be successful on the scale they want everyone to believe until they stop making cars that look like they were designed for retarded babies by retarded monkeys. Kias are WAY too horribly cute. Not JUST cute. They're cute AND ugly. That has to stop. The new Sportage is unbearable. The Forte's a step in the right direction, though.Looks have been their problem all along. I thought Hyundai had figured this out, but apparently they're slow on the uptake. When people buy a budget brand, they don't want it to be obviously a budget brand. Whether it's distinctive by attractiveness or ugliness doesn't matter...either way it is recognizable as a budget brand.Those people want the car to blend in. Look kinda like a Honda. They do NOT want people to say "oh, look, that's a Kia." Kia can't keep making the most distinctively goofy looking cars and expect to be successful as a super-budget car company at the same time. The two are incompatible.The Sorento's a step in the right direction. If it wasn't for that retarded tiny-car-on-an-SUV fascia it'd be mistakeable for a GM product from many angles. THAT is exactly what they need to go for. The Forte looks kinda like a Civic, excellent. The Rondo looks like a Rondo, and that cannot be good for sales.

[Beancooker]

Oh, but they have AWD, not FWD!

Just don't take a look underneath. I swear my turn signal stalks are thicker than the axles on most of those little "SUVs".

That's not an axle, that's a toothpick. And look at that cute wittle diff housing! Isn't it ADORABLE!?

People said the same type of things when we went from solid steel cars on steel frames to "crumple zones".

Better stronger alloys are responsible for smaller axles. Look at a Subaru's diffs and axles. Rediculously small, but can withstand a quite significant amout of HP and torque. I'm sure that the Kia, Toyota, Ford and all the others have the same type of engineering and are using the same type of alloys.

But yes, they look terribly small.

As far as crossovers, makes no difference to me. I hardly notice them. They're all like streaks of "blah" driving by.

The last thing this world needs is ANYTHING ELSE Taurus based. I thought that Ford did away with that POS a few years ago. What a fail to bring it back.

[seang]

...after they roll off the lot in their new Kia, they can go pay their weekly rent 'a' center payment. Oh, what a good deal!
Modified by seang at 9:14 AM 11/18/2009

[lino]

Nissan and Toyota are the ONLY options left for people who want an actual SUV.

Are you sure that none of the others qualify?