In an announcement from Kia Motors, the company has disclosed that they have been able to send off the 200,000th unit of the Kia cee’d. This unit was created in the company’s assembly facility in Zilina, Slovakia and it happened last May 23rd. Coming in Dakar Yellow as the shade for its exterior, the 200,000th Kia cee’d would be delivered in Germany where a customer had ordered the unit. Now that would be one lucky person for he would be owning a historic unit.

In-Kyu Bae is the president and chief honcho for Kia Motors in Slovakia and on the 200,000th Kia cee’d, he disclosed, “We produced our 100,000th cee’d last September, 10 months after start-up, and with the addition of the cee’d wagon and pro_cee’d three-door hatch, we have reached our 200,000th cee’d after only eight months. We have also been consistently achieving record productivity levels while maintaining excellent build quality.”

Hyundai Motor Company is the affiliate of Kia Motors Corporation. According to the former, which is also known as the top car manufacturer in South Korea, the latter would soon be selling a new car sometime in the third quarter of this year. It was also disclosed that the new vehicle would be an entry-level unit and that Kia has decided to start selling such so as to help the company have more sales.

The name of the new vehicle has yet to be disclosed however Kia has announced that the vehicle has been given the code name AM. The vehicle has already undergone a trial production. The company’s Gwangju plant would be the facility responsibility for manufacturing the unit. Auto experts who have an inkling as to what the Kia AM is all about has mentioned that it was first introduced as the Kia Soul concept and that it looks like the Scion xB.

Toyota and Honda dominated the list of the top vehicle models with the highest fuel economy ratings released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Five of the top ten most fuel efficient vehicles in the U.S. today were manufactured by Toyota, now the world’s second largest automaker. The hybrid car Toyota Prius topped the list with a fuel economy rating of 60 mpg city and 51 mpg highway.

Meanwhile, Honda’s Civic hybrid and Fit were also cited for their high fuel economy scores with the gas-sipping Civic coming only second to the Prius. The list is rounded up by other Asian models: the Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio tied for 9th place. Meanwhile, the Ford Escape FWD and 4WD were the only domestic models on the list.

Underscoring the excellent quality and safety of Toyota automobiles, the Camry sedan and RAV4 SUV recently earned top honors for side/front crash safety. The two Toyota vehicles dominated the other models evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Other models tested included the latest versions of the Dodge Caliber, Kia Optima, Lincoln Zephyr, and Hyundai Tucson SUV. All six vehicles garnered “good” or “acceptable” ratings in front crash tests. However, five of the six vehicles got a poor rating in rear-end collision protection. Only the Kia Optima got a good rating for rear crash safety though it was not tested for side impact crash. The tests involve crashing the vehicles into a barrier at a speed of 40 mph as well as hitting the vehicle from behind at 20 mph.

The vehicles with side air bags got the highest marks. This bodes well for the NHTSA’s mandate for industry-wide use of side airbags. Apparently, side air bags can save up to 1,200 lives in the US every year. However, side airbags remain as an option (priced at about $650) in most vehicles today. Only 38% of current vehicles come with standard side airbags, while another 30% offers the safety feature as an option.

Just in time for the opening of classes throughout the country, CNN Money recently released its selection of the seven best college cars. Choosing the best from today’s crop of new, low-priced car models is not an easy task. The team at CNN Money found that there is a surprising number of options available for the college student or the recent college grad even though they restricted their choices to cars with a starting base sticker price of below $16,000. CNN Money’s criteria for choosing the best college cars include great fuel economy, functionality and safety and size. Based on these, here are the seven best college cars according to CNN Money, ranked from the lowest to highest base price:

Nissan Versa - $12, 450

Scion xA - $12, 780

Dodge Caliber - $13,425

Ford Focus - $13,450

Mazda3 -$13, 710

Honda Fit - $13,850

Kia Sportage - $15,900

Source

Kia Motors recently unveiled a new compact MPV at the Madrid Motor Show. The new Carens is Kia’s response to the growing demand for a next generation vehicle offering the utility of MPVs and the comfort and versatility of SUVs. At just under 15 ft in length, the New Carens can conveniently sit up to seven people. It is also taller and wider than its predecessor, also named Carens. Also, the new Carens features a smoother and more aerodynamic exterior with elegant detailing.

The New Carens also offers a surprisingly spacious interior which can further be expanded by folding down the middle and rear row seats to create a wide space for luggage. The Carens is powered by four-cylinder 2.0 CRDi diesel engine with variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) and a six-speed manual gearbox. The new Kia Carens was designed and targeted for the European market but a version of the Carens, called Rondo, will also be introduced in North America.

Kelley Blue Book recently named the top ten coolest new vehicles priced under $18,000. With the average price of a new vehicle at over $25,000, this list is an excellent guide especially for new car buyers who think that there aren’t any cool cars, trucks, and SUVs below the $18,000 price mark. The editors of Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com first put together a list of all the new vehicles available at $18,000 then picked the top ten coolest from the list. Coolness refers to a wide range of characteristics and values such as performance, reliability, styling, versatility, economy, comfort or any combination of these. The vehicles on the list definitely offer quite a good mix of these values.

Jack Nerad, editorial director of Kelly Blue Book’s kbb.com remarked that “While everyone bemoans the fact that new cars are so expensive these days, we found a wide variety of cool, fun-to-drive vehicles that are still affordable. We settled on the $18,000 price point, because it offers most buyers a monthly payment of less than $350 over the course of a five-year loan.” The 2006 Yaris, Toyota’s best seller in Europe and the least expensive vehicle in Toyota’s current line up, was the least expensive cool car on the list with an MSRP of $14,630. Meanwhile, the 2006 Toyota Scion tC was the most expensive at $17,640. So if you are planning to buy a car, these choices are definitely worth considering.

Here are the top ten coolest new cars priced under $18,000:

Just a few months ago, Georgia has been lingering at the misfortune that has befallen them when two production plants in the state, one from Ford and another from General Motors, shut down. This week, however, traces of that misfortune can hardly be seen on many Georgia residents, especially those residing in or near Troup County. Instead, only excitement can be seen on their faces—an excitement brought about by the news that Kia Motors Corporation, the second largest South Korean auto manufacturer, will soon be setting up a plant in the area.

Last Tuesday (March 14, 2006), Kia Motors Corporation announced plans to construct a $1.2 billion automotive assembly and manufacturing plant in West Point, Troup County, Georgia. The plant, which will begin its operation in 2009, will be the first Kia manufacturing plant in the U.S.

For the South Korean auto manufacturing company, the plan of setting up a plant in the U.S. was fueled by their sales success in the North American automotive market. For the month of February, the company reports, Kia Motors America has posted a record sales of 20,719 vehicles, which is 3.2 percent ahead of its record setting sales pace in 2005. “Kia Motors has entered an aggressive growth phase in the U.S.,’ said Kia President and CEO Euisun Chung at a ceremony in Seoul, and setting up a plant that will bring them closer to their customer base is clearly the next logical step for the company.

As for the residents of Troup County, Georgia, nothing can be more important than the jobs that the new plant will bring to their area. When it starts with its operation in 2009, the Kia assembly and manufacturing plant would need at least 2,500 workers. Five to six auto suppliers are also expected to set up near the plant, adding some 2,000 more jobs.

Korean automaker Kia unveiled its fresh, new concept car at the ongoing Geneva Auto Show. Named the Cee’d (pronounced seed), the concept car features a stunning new flowing design, precise styling, and solid stance. The Cee’d concept is definitely a step in the right direction for Kia, which will start building an all-new C-segment model, on which this Cee’d concept is based, in its first-ever European assembly plant in Slovakia by the end of this year.

Kia says that the Cee’d incorporate some of the design cues from its current models the Sorento SUV and the A-segment Picanto, with free-flowing lines extending from the nose to the bumper. Other notable features in this concept are the extended, flared wheel arches and 19 inch aluminum wheels with low profile tires. The concept car was named Cee’d to reflect the fact that it is made in Europe and it symbolize its being a seed from which Kia’s European productions will grow. With the Cee’d as preview of what Kia has to offer, the future does indeed look promising for this automaker.