KIA

KIA: One of the newest American auto makers.

With the Nissan assembly plants in Smyrna, Tennessee, the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa and Hyundai factories in Montgomery, Alabama, KIA is in good company with their newest mammoth manufacturing facility about eighty miles east of Hyundai-Alabama in West Point, Georgia. With the Kia addition, the Southeast now has a concentration of heavy manufacturing facilities that puts this formally undeveloped area of our country into an industrialized economy to a greater extent than ever before.

KIA converted an aging textile mill into an expanded state-of-the-art auto manufacturing monolith with rampant robotics performing almost every operation possible. Kia can now be added to all the other brands that boast: Made in America by Americans for American buyers; Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Suzuki, Toyota and Volkswagen.

The latest offering from Kia is the Forte’, an efficient small sedan with big performance and an available six speed stick shift to make it more fun than a car this economical is normally thought to be.

The driver of this aesthetically pleasing, sleek sedan can put just the power needed to the road using the most appropriate notch for the six speed stick to select how much verve to put into the curve being negotiated. Churning the shift lever carefully, the Forte driver can choose just how thirsty those 173 horses will be, from the 2.4 liter, DOHC, 4 cylinder engine. Forte’ can be driven for economy or for hot performance with the power plant it shares with the KIA Optima with proven dependability and excellent economy. On one ‘econ-run’ test, driving conservatively, the Forte’ turned in 39 miles per gallon!

With independent front suspension and torsion beam rear, sport tuned, the KIA Forte’ is a real a blast to drive briskly. The best news is that Forte’ will do it using only 32 miles per gallon on the highway and an impressive 22 mpg in the city.

With a sticker stating $17,195 base price and a normally accessorized model such as our test car rounding out the bottom line at $19,490, including a $695 freight and handling charge, the sharp looking Forte’ sedan comes off feeling like a bargain with its crisp, responsive performance and sports car-like handling, drive wise.