West Point, Georgia ???
 

Does anyone here know why the Kia Automobile ads on TV are claiming some connection to bicycles for their new plant in West Point, Georgia? It seems kind of cool they want some connection to bicycles. On the other hand, is it just a gimmick for attention?

Was an old name US bike built there? Which one?

Did Mr. Kia have a flat tire on his bike and get help from friendly Georgians?

Is there a "Bike Tour" through the factory?

What????

Using bikes in advertising as props is one of the latest marketing trends. KIA used to make bikes, but in Korea.

There was a thread about Kia bikes a few days ago actually. Seems they were below Huffy and Murray standards.

I haven't seen much from Kia that i thought was all that great quality wise. Granted, they're producing incredibly inexpensive cars... and one can only assume that design quality is directly linked to price.

I saw one of the commericals after having read the other thread and snickered a bit given the glowing review of the bikes that was in that thread.

Uh they aren't? Watch and listen a little more carefully?

Kia began making bicycles before they began making cars. That is all they are saying.

I just remembered I rented a Kia minivan. Funny thing is, I went to pick it up riding my bike, and I was riding a Giant Sedona. The rental guy noticed the model name was the same as the minivan, a Kia Sedona.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the Sedona. The engine was powerful but I didn't like it for some reason. The handling was bad. Oh well. It is inexpensive.

I once rented a Ford Freestar. I expected to dislike it. It was fantastic. I tried to find fault with it but couldn't. Stupid name, great product. The name reminded me of "free radical" that I learned about in Chemistry class.

Kia started with bicycle manufacturing. They introduced cars to the U.S. market in 1994.
This is actually mentioned in an article on Hyundai (Kia is now part of Hyundai) in the current issue of Fortune magazine, which I just happened to thumb through today.

You can get to the article through the following link:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/04/auto...tune/index.htm

Not to get pedantic, but Kia had cars in the US before 1994. Remember the Ford Festiva of the late 80's? Little bottom end econobox two-door hatchback. That was a Kia. Replaced by the Aspire in the early 90's, also Korean although I'm not absolutely certain that was also a Kia.