Tweedehands Kia Carens

Kia started in 1944 making bicycle parts in Seoul, moved on to motorcycles, then trucks, and built its first car in 1974. Its name roughly means to rise out of Asia, and for its first fifty years it was exactly that: a company quietly working its way up.

The turning point came in 2006, when Kia hired Peter Schreyer from Audi and gave him a free hand. The tiger-nose grille, the Sportage, the Cee'd built in Slovakia and a seven-year warranty transformed a budget brand into one Europeans chose on merit rather than on price.

Today Kia is one of the most convincing electric brands on the market. The EV3, EV6 and EV9 share 800-volt architecture with Hyundai, the Sportage and Niro cover the hybrid ground, and the design has become confident enough to win awards outright. Movement that inspires, as the slogan goes, and for once the slogan fits.