KIA VP Says K900 Fills The Void Between BMW's 5 and 7 Series - What Do You Think?

What's this world coming to?!? 60k Kia's! I've seen it all. I'm surprised whenever I see a Cadenza on the road so I may just have a heart attack if I see who would drop that kind of cash on a Kia. Too soon for me.

They do however make a good point about these luxury cars going lower and lower. I cringe whenever I see a 320i or an ILX. Those are prime examples of people who should be driving Civics or Corollas or even a Forte (since Kia is the topic). How does the company who claims to make the ultimate driving machine feel comfortable making a car with a cheaper engine than a SI and if it were my money I'd take the SI and have a nice Honda instead of owning the cheapest BMW. Common sense don't buy 60k Kia's, you can do better also don't buy 30k and lower luxury cars if you can't afford a decent one then go buy something you can.

Totally agree with this. Chasing dollars for car companies should be prohibited when it involves taking a great award winning near luxury/luxury car and dropping its quality/content to result in a price more people can afford. It decreases value, exclusivity and passion for the brand/model. Most notable offender here is BMW with its bread and butter 3-series. Ditch the 320 and produce a sedan version of the 228. It sucks when your hot high performance M3 or 335/435 bears more than a striking resemblance to the uninspiried 320. If BMW uses the 320 engine to create a 520, then ....

Also, why do BMW standard alloy wheels almost always look so plain and cheap? If, MB can put a good looking alloy wheel as standard equipment on its lowly C250 sedan, why can't BMW do the same? The standard wheels on the base 320/328/428 models are all the same and very ugly.

I'd say they're trying, but they don't have the North American concept of marketing nailed down yet. Imagine if decades ago, Honda had said "We're creating a premium car, to become the first Japanese competition against the Germans." They would have failed. Instead, they created Acura, a separate brand, which allowed consumers NOT to associate the new premium vehicles with Honda's history of economical and practical (and inexpensive) ones. Ditto with Toyota when they launched Lexus, and Nissan when they launched Infiniti.

Just look to VW's stillborn Phaeton to see that the "econo-car maker creates luxury car" approach doesn't work very well. (In VW's case, having exterior styling that resembles a large Jetta didn't help their cause, either).

Kia and Hyundai: Create a separate premium brand if you want to sell in that space! People will take you more seriously.

The sooner Hyundai/Kia creates a premium brand, the sooner the products will be taken seriously. The irony was that the Genesis and the Genesis coupe WERE supposed to be two cars under the Genesis brand with alphanumeric names. The sedan was to be the Genesis BH380 if I recall correctly. Hyundai got scared because the car came to market as the economic collapse happened so it was easier to sell the car as a Hyundai as opposed to having a stand alone dealer. A Genesis brand would not need a stand alone dealer if Hyundai/Kia ever got smart again.

So, what Kia is really trying to convince themselves is that the are trying to take the same strategy that Lexus took when they first launched by offering a 7-Series competitor at a 5-Series price. Lexus first took that approach with the LS (And Acura a similar approach with the Legend, but more aimed at the 5 at a 3 price). The key Kia is missing is that they (and Hyundai) aren't backed by a reputable parent company (Toyota and Honda), so it's going to be much harder to convince a buyer to buy a "discounted 7/S/A8".

Acura has a shining example of a successful brand is a joke. It was until about 1992 ( the last good iteration of the Legend), but over the last 2 decades has been a disaster.

I like the idea of Hyundai/Genesis and Kia K900 within mainstream brands, but we'll see how it goes. My guess is it'll be reasonably successful (if the quality is there)

Maybe you need to check your facts before you make comments....

You it it

Anyone who buys a $50K+ Kia or Hyundai is a SUCKER - nuff said.

better quality and reliability on the Hyundai/Kia

I think NOT !

It's probably more reliable than most BMW's, Audi's and S/SL/GL, Mercedes Benz vehicles.

Facts don't lie, but JD Power does!

Actually, I believe Hyundai's the one that lies (about MPG)

People are free to make assumptions and express their opinions based on bias but anyone who has actually driven a K900 and experienced its amenities will tell you it's a quality vehicle and worthy of its asking price.

I should know, I've had buyers that have either owned the popular luxury brands aforementioned or at least certainly could afford them and yet after taking a closer look at the K900, they bought it.

Yes the K900 competes directly with the BMW 750i, BMW 550i, Mercedes E550 4Matic Sedan, Audi A8, and the Lexus LS 460. Come in to see me and I'll be delighted to show you direct comparisons if you're serious about buying a K900.

I've even had "all cash" buyers for both the Cadenza and K900 so distant critics can say what they want but Kia has done a wonderful job bringing this luxury vehicle to market, it even made autotrader.com's prestigious list of "must test drive" vehicles for 2014.

Richard Turner Jr.
Certified Premium Specialist
Kia of Santa Rosa
(707)387-3777 Ext.718
(707)583-9159 VM

You're paid to pretend KIAs aren't just cheap knockoffs. We understand, same thing Samsung employees are paid to do, pretend their products aren't just substitutes for what people really wanted but can't afford.

anyone who thinks this car competes with bmw, or mercedes is crazy. this car does NOT compete with any luxury car. it is a POS kia. the only car the K900 competes with is the EQUUS !!

Oh small minds, badge snobs, heads in the sand! I would love to go for a spin in this car, and I'm sure it's a lovely thing. However i am someone who drives a 'still-born Phaeton' in Europe, so who am i to say anything? I thought America was supposed to be a bit more open minded....

When it comes to cars, Americans are usually not very open to artistic/aesthetic changes . We are now a fairly vanilla and practical society when it comes to automotive innovation and aesthetics. Explains why the Camry is best selling auto and why several trucks make up most of the top 10 selling passenger vehicles every year. Meanwhile, most of those trucks are equipped with many luxury features which seems somewhat counterintuitive in my opinion.

There is a current Chevrolet truck TV commercial out now that exemplifies how far behind many Americans are in their thinking about cars/trucks. It boasts of available innovative LED exterior lighting, which I found kind of funny. Innovative automotive technology today would include something like laser headlamps with automatic high beams, not LED drls.

By the way, the Phaeton was and continues to be a great car. The US automotive press uniformly acknowledged this while it was on sale in the US, even though the consensus was that it would be a hard sale given competition from the more established Audi A8. Even though VW stopped importing it into the US in 2006 due to poor sales, I still see some around here in good condition in the Washington, DC area. This is probably more an indicator of the DC area than it is of the general US population. But nevertheless, an Audi badge is far more desirable than a VW badge when it comes to luxury vehicles in the US. Apparently, many Americans cannot change their very limited view of what VW should (or could) be just as is the case with Kia and its attempt to sell a luxury offering here.

If you're paying $60k for something, do you want a diamond or a cubic zirconia? Only a stupid person would pay for the fake.

The Koreans never heard of the BMW 6 Gran Coupe?

Instead of buying a counterfeit 5 series, you'd be better off buying a used BMW 5 series instead.

German cars get you laid. Korean cars get you laughed at or perhaps pity.