How Kia’s New Logo Aims to Challenge Tesla and Other EV Companies | WSJ Rebrand
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 มิ.ย. 2024
- Redesigned dealerships, colors and logo are all part of Kia’s multimillion-dollar effort to rebrand. Kia overhauled its look in 2021 in the hopes of cultivating a more upmarket image as electric vehicles take center stage in the industry.
The Wall Street Journal breaks down Kia’s efforts to change consumers’ perceptions of the brand.
Illustration: Ryan Trefes
0:00 Kia’s logo history and brand image
0:34 Breakdown of Kia’s new logo
2:05 Kia redesigned its dealerships in the U.S.
4:06 Kia's aggressive EV projections
4:48 How the Inflation Reduction Act threatens Kia
Rebrand
When companies rebrand, they often change their logo - a visual representation of a company’s shift in strategy. But how effective is it? In each Rebrand episode, we interview a logo expert, a business expert and mainstream consumers to decode exactly what an updated logo is meant to say and why.
#WSJ #Kia #Rebrand
Kia and Hyundai have been on a roll recently. The designs and the cars themselves that theyve been putting out have been really great recently
They are the same company. Hyundai bought out Kia.
@@wooshc yeah thats why i said their name together
@@wooshc Hyundai only owns 33% of Kia they are considered sister companies.
@@wooshcthis is wrong in that they definitely aren't the same company. You can buy shares in Kia right now. Hyundai is a chaebol which is a family-controlled Korean conglomerate. Hyundai own a third of Kia, but Kia owns shares in a bunch of Hyundai subsidiaries. Chaebol ownership structures are really confusing and complex because chaebols operate in so many industries/sectors in Korea under subsisidiaries, but also because they are designed to strengthen the power and control of the family, since chaebol families own a very small portion of their own publicly listed subsidiaries. You're sorta right in that Kia's chairman is Hyundai's chairman and Hyundai's chairman is the heir to the Hyundai chaebol, so they operate as one entity at the executive level but operationally they are separate. I'd say Kia's direction is largely dictated by Hyundai's chairman.
They just hire ex-Audi designers lol
Hyundai doesn’t have its look, the look changes every two years. I find it ridiculous to see people thinking they have an image at all.
Even if people misunderstand the logo, I think their rebrand has been phenomenal. A few years ago, you'd never recognize a Kia driving down the street, but nowadays you do, and a lot more of them too!
Them, Hyundai & Genesis have been on a great roll these last couple of years!
Huge step up, I notice new model Kias far more often now
Why So Many Hyundai and Kia Vehicles Are Getting Recalled for Fire Risk
Since 2010, more than 3,100 Hyundai and Kia vehicles have caught fire, injuring 103 people and killing one, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the government agency investigating both automakers. These fires may be related to a type of four-cylinder engine used by both automakers.
I guess not quality nor safety.
@@tocreatee3585 OMG thanks for the heads up
@@tocreatee3585source? Also the western brands have more trouble. Hence in Europe I see more KIA and Hyundai on the streets because they are reliable and durable
@@tocreatee3585 nah idk man my mom ran a Kia into a wall and nothing like that happened
@@truehappiness4U NHTSA😃
6 years ago I bought my first car, a used 2010 Kia forte but I never really liked it, it was all I can afford at the time. I actually didn’t like any Kia at the time but they have changed so much since then and now Kia has some of the nicest cars on the market. 4 months ago I bought my dream car (that was in my budget) a 2023 Kia K5 GT Line in Polar White with red leather interior and a Panoramic Sunroof. I love it!
Thank you for sharing this. Question, how was the quality of Kia Cars in general? Did you have many repairs done? Did they use quality parts? Ex: my old Celica, everything was great. My newer Matrix, window seals fell apart, engine mount broke at only 60k miles. That sort of stuff. How is Kia for quality?
@@yogitam2372 I have a 2016 Kia soul and I still love it for what it is. 80k miles now and no repairs needed. And Kia is only improving so build quality is probably even better now. They also received the JD Powers award for best initial quality if that means anything
@@ScrubLordJenkins Thank you.
@@yogitam2372 of course. I think Kia make some of the best cars for the price and have a 100k mile warranty. Don't think you can go wrong with choosing a Kia after some research to find a good model.
Beautiful!
My dad got a Kia Niro EV like two years age right before this whole rebrand and I honestly love that car. Its nothing flashy but its really comfortable, easy to drive and surprisingly roomy for the small footprint. I mean, we're all over 6'2 in my family and everybody fits comfortably
My mom had a 2016 Kia Optima and the engine caught fire on the highway driving to p.a from nyc and they told her it was her they couldn’t pay cuz it was to much damage to determine where the fire started even tho that engine was recalled and they gave it back to her a few weeks before saying it was fine
The new Niro EV is a huge improvement
@@asdewq9683 punctuation is your friend.
I loved my Kia 2013 Kia Sportage. I was a Honda and Toyota owner for years and on an impulsive buy I decide to go against my own advice and bought my 2013 Kia Sportage brand spanking new. I really didn't have a complaint about Kia until I was riding down the highway one evening and the car just lost power. After towing it away the mechanic told me that the engine was seized and it was a $7000 repair. He advised me to call Kia because this appears to be a Known issue.
I've been saying for years Kia Hyundai use poor cheap wire harnesses which turn into electrical problems on the vehicles & now fires, I had a 16 Sorento what a nightmare almost everything broke electrical issues up the a** battery continually dying, moon roof wouldn't close just a disaster, they entice with the designs of the car but reliability eventually catches up to you... I remember Hyundai back in the 80s Pony Stellar were also disasters.
I dig the logo. They are aiming at millennials and younger folks. It looks sleek and modern. Their old logo looks too 90s.
thought it was ' K' and reversed 'N
Obviously the logo failed if everyone searched for KN….
@@LightW but now when u search KN cars it goes to KIA. so in the end it worked.
@@LightW people end up searching kia win for kia anyways
Kn car
Here's a bit of history that's not mentioned in this video.
Back in the late 80's, KIA went into partnership with FORD to produce the PRIDE (AKA FESTIVE in US - long story)
They changed their logo to oval shape around that time, and the size of the oval was EXACTLY same as the FORD's oval, so they can keep everything same except the emblem.
Are you telling me that I can go and replace some Ford badges with Kia ones? 😈
Such a fan of this rebrand. Completely echo what Blake said about branding lagging behind the quality of the industrial design and engineering. They first launched this at an autoshow a few years ago on one of those futuristic prototypes cars and I think that was must have been a focus group or period of sorts to see how well it was received. Its so good. Really elevated the brand!
New logo is a hit or miss, hit 'cause it really defines modern car design, miss 'cause KIA did a terrible job in telling us it's KIA, not KN.
the logo should've been KiA instead, so that people would immediately recognize its 'i' and 'a' instead of N
definitely a miss. if you look at the new logo it spell kvi
It doesn’t look like N.
N Goes the other direction!!!
It feels even stranger to me, russian, cause we have letter И (i). Instead of "Kia" it looks like "Ki" КИ
If you know how the letter N is written lol 😂
They've really bounced back from where they were in the past. I got my hands on a 2022 kia forte gt line and the car is just so nice to drive it's actually fun. I find myself just enjoying taking it out for a drive it doesn't feel at all like a value vehicle. A solid build and quality and the redesign of the forte is just aggressive looking and sleek.
Actually the new logo looks cool! Its a good move for Kia to change their logo that captures attention remember good or bad publicity is still a publicity.
KIA Hyundai has safety issues. just so many safety issues.
Their cars are all over California their design teams deserve a gold star ⭐✨
KN cars??
@@mastersinr 😂
I think Kia and the Korean brands right now are doing a great job of making actual good looking cars, and taking what would normally be considered a boring car and making it actually interesting
I actually love the new Logo
Yeah the abstract idea
Makes the cars look sporty
Design ia simple, modern, elegant. Looks good on any color with matte silver. Unlike the old black oval one and bulging on the hood
KIA reads as ΚΙΛ (KIL) in GREEK GRΣΣΚ (GRSSK)
New KIA logo reads as KИ (KI) (Faux Cyrillic of Kia
The funny thing only Koreans know is that the new logo was actually designed by someone in an internet community - I remember it was the biggest car community in Korea. He(or she) said he hope to the logo changed like this to be sophisticated. And the company took that draft.
3:15 I hope they use better geometry when they design their cars than in their logo 80°+105° = 185° lol
I'm not sure that the strokes are the same width the entire way across. Just optically, they don't seem to be. So if they aren't straight then it shouldn't necessarily equal 180°, right?
@@ethanrogers9627 Yes
Kia needs to start a new EV brand with upfront pricing and easy online purchase process like Tesla. They need to keep dealerships out of the equation for their EVs. No more hidden markups and over priced dealer add-ons.
I've been saying for years Kia Hyundai use poor cheap wire harnesses which turn into electrical problems on the vehicles & now fires, I had a 16 Sorento what a nightmare almost everything broke electrical issues up the a** battery continually dying, moon roof wouldn't close just a disaster, they entice with the designs of the car but reliability eventually catches up to you... I remember Hyundai back in the 80s Pony Stellar were also disasters.
Their design is congruent and has a great flow. definitely a good design set for the future.
they choose to fix the log but not the car.
🤨
they got caught AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Secret shopper test catches Kia dealership breaking the law | Go Public
An Edmonton car salesman says the Kia dealership he recently left repeatedly ripped off customers, emboldened by a shortage of new vehicles in the pandemic. He says the dealership didn't sell vehicles at the advertised price, breaking the law in Alberta and several other provinces.
Everytime i'm driving, I'm so drawn to starring at the new KIA logo. Loving the new look both with logo the the remodelling on the car!
The logo is fantastic, but at the same time if the consumers and potential customers dont understand it, it needs to change. By adding a bit of space between the "I" and "A", it would help improve legibility and Im certain would solve the issue of the "KN" brand.
Well to be fair most car brands don't include their name on the logo anyways, give it some time and everyone will just know it's kia. Plus now if you look up KN car brand they come up anyways.
I get your concern, but personally I don't think this is an issue. A logo is a symbol, not text. I think they did a great job abstracting the text to make it a logo. In fact, by making it NOT look like it is just Kia in a different font I think there is added intrigue for those who may not be familiar with the new rebranding. I think the fact that people are searching for KN proves that more people are getting curious about the brand, whereas if it was immediately legible as Kia, they may have not done the search in the first place. Its a logo that if you don't know you'll have to find out, but once you know what it is, you will never unknow. I think it strikes that balance perfectly in my opinion.
I think the fact people didnt recognize the logo as kia may even helped because they initially perceived it as a nice new set of cars. And by the time they find it is kia they no longer associate that old cheap car manufacturer stigma. Well at least thats what got me
In GREEK / GRΣΣK (GRSSK), ΚΙΛ as KIL.
As i know, many of people recognize the KIA's logo as 'Killed In Action'... so I think this's the reason why they disguise it as KN not KIA
New logo is fantastic! My perception of the Kia brand has much changed since their new designs and especially the Ev6! Well done Kia!
much changed lol. no payed comments here, move along nothing to see
Well, you will drive "KИ" but not "KIA" anymore))
The k and a gas logo
@@TheRostofan most car brands don't even have their names on the logo so it doesn't matter a single bit
Plus, the letter N goes the other way
Kia’s are super popular here in the UK, I see so many Kia Sportage, Kia Niro and Kia Picanto’s. I really like their new logo along with their different design styles and choice of power trains.
This logo takes Kia to another level. It has made Kia a chic, sporty, modern and elegant company. A really great rebranding by Blackspace. Gladly more of it!
LETS GO KIA BOYZ!!🔥🔥🔥🔥
The IA looks more like a reversed N to me but it still looks cool.
The new logo is awesome and also kia's cars are great!
I owned a 2011 Forte EX for four years before it got totaled. Nice car, but with the payout I upgraded to a 2015 Optima SXL and it is an awesome car. All the features I could want and it drives pretty smooth considering it's nearing 95k miles.
Kia's new logo is fantastic! It has a unique style and just looks very futuristic.
Lol all the KIA employees on here trying to hype it up. Pretty sad.
@@MrHihihibye lol, you lost a screw or something?
@@MrHihihibye not everyone wants an overrated Honda anymore
Agreed!
Stop it...design failed 😅
No idea how people mistook the new logo for "KN". If anything, it resembles "KИ" which wouldn't even be possible. I think it looks really fresh and modern and I think it's also very easily readable.
Definitely with Cyrillic touch: КИА.
Looks like a KVI
They should've left a little bit of space between the K, I & A
The human brain misinterprets very easily.
so you telling me out of all the things people can mistaken, intepret KИ as KN feels absolute impossible to you?
@@emasoruk Yup.
This KN car looks cool 👀
🤡
Best rebranding I’ve ever seen. Love the new logo!
Maybe the comment bots need an upgrade..
Both Hyundai and Kia are doing a phenomenal job both in design and speed of introducing new models worldwide. Way ahead the Japanese and German brands.
It looks really cool and it just took me a second to recognize it was Kia the first time I ever saw it which was in a car driving in front of me.
I MUCH prefer their newer logo. Their old one looked cheap so it drove me away. This one is enticing and with their newer better car designs Kia seems so be making a comeback 👀
Lol.. it's just letters.. could you explain further?
Bought my first Kia lats year with the new rebranding, and it's been amazing people are always surprised 😮 when I tell them that is a Kia 🔥
First time I saw the new logo I thought that’s really cool looking. So definitely the new logo helped me become interested in Kia. But for now don’t need a car
Get a Kia horse
@@whitemailprivilege2830 fun fact: the average adult horse has 15 horsepower
It’s a very successful logo and rebranding. The first time I saw it running on the street, I wanna search online to find out what KN is.
More than 7 million KIA Hyundai have been recalled for Fire risk.....
hope the LOGO fix the car fire.😅
@@aseadaaserwet2690 Hyundai/KIA USA quality control issues.
We have no fires related to them on this side of the globe.
Toyota got caught cheating in the emissions test@@aseadaaserwet2690
Bought a new phev sportage. Offers everything the new X1 has but without the crazy price tag. Looks awesome, drives great. And the logo change was much needed
I hope this really takes off. I think it was much needed and the whole idea and perception of what kia and Hyundai are goes out the window because they are really beautiful cars, just the brand that needs to dig itself out of the budget name/market.
Kia’s new logo looks exactly like Nine Inch Nails logo 😂
Branding is such a fascinating field of study, hopefully I get to learn more about it in grad school
Fun fact: New KIA logo now can also be read in russian (and some other slavic langs), because letter i and letter a merge into letter И (which can be read as I or E)
got a 22’ kia k5 as my first “on my own” car this year, couldnt be happier
Hows it going so far with k5 ? I thought about getting one as well
The way I know it's a KIA is because their logo isn't easily read. From this piece I get what they are going for and understand why, but when I see it on the road I have to tell myself "oh that emble, letter mashup, is a Kia", but my mind has a hard time seeing the "K", "I", & "A".
downvoted
Meanwhile, Google searches for "what car brand is KN?" has had an exponential increase in the past year
Took me a while to figure out this was the kia logo
Man KIA s new logo is absolutely amazing. Thinking to purchase KIA Seltos, loved that car after my first drive.
I first noticed this around the time of the 2021 Australian Open.
Good job KN!
When I saw that new logo for the first time, in the Australian Open, I did not think it was KN, I immediately thought it was KIA. Today was the first time I found out people were confused with the new logo.
I suggest googling soviet car logo called ИЖ. When i saw the new KIA logo for the first time, it’s strongly reminded me the soviet vehicle ИЖ.
I bought a kia sorento with this new logo... it's a fantastic car and i hated their old logo. I love how upmarket Kia cars and the logo look these days. Five years ago i wouldn't even have thought about buying a Kia but now they are much better than a lot of competition.
Got a Kia Forte 2023 and Im in love with it Great mileage per gallon... great indoors. The car design is slick!!!
I have a kia forte 2017. It really is a good car.
I have a 2020. The lease is up in a couple months
I have a kia forte GT line 2021 loveee it so much
Well I bought a 23 Telluride from Rick Case Kia a few weeks ago and that dealership has definitely not been remodeled (yet) for the new branding look. However their customer service was phenomenal and I got a fully loaded brand new vehicle with no markup, so I’m glad I went there! I also much prefer the new logo as opposed to the old one that was on my 2020 Telluride.
Logo is fantastic. And the car company is fantastic as well. They have come a long way from building bicycles back in the 1950's. Great job Kia!
Only their products and after service are far from fantastic.
When I first saw the logo on a car, I didn't even realize it was a Kia til I saw a billboard later on
I love Kia and Hyundai. Excellent and reliable cars that look awesome
Kia has been doing great lately with the designs and material quality. Even their insurance and customer service has gotten better.
I actually prefer the branch (kia) over the tree (hyundai)
Yeah I have a Kia on order, now becuase of the change of the logo, comes to show logo and brand is massive
Best thing about the logo is, you can heat it up with a heat gun and peel it off.
took Kia Forte GT-Line recently. Their cruise technology with auto steer feature is practically hands free drive on freeways.
Great content!
Logos can be good if they are readable
You may need some 👓
well done, KN
Kia's EV6 has tested very high at Consumer Reports' 2022 car tests.
they should at leant separate the letters a bit to stop it from looking like “KN”
Their dealer service network is horrible though. Just hope nothing breaks.
I was looking at the stinger and some of the performance vehicles they have made.
the first 30 seconds absolutely knocked me out cold with laughter
I see presumably stolen Kia’s almost every day driving in Milwaukee. Broken out taped up window with no plates and all beat up. Good job raising awareness and focusing on a logo rather than anti theft features! My elderly neighbors who woke up carless and the police thank you for keeping life interesting and keeping police employed. Thank you.
Brilliant, cheers to KN. Bold moves with those non generic black and white logo colors.
😅😅😅 i see what you did here!
Whoever thought about that logo design... give them a raise! The logo is actually really nice!
Why in my area when something gets updated for everyone else, it stays the same for me. Like the McDonald’s has the 90s McDonald’s building, and the Pizza Hut is actually a hut, and dealerships have outdated logos
The fact that consumers are swayed by a logo does not instil confidence in the human race
Love the new logo! It looks modern and more stylish. I have a 2025 Kia Soul that has 88,000 miles on it. It still runs well, and I have only had to do expected maintenance on it and a cylanoid (sp?) that was covered by warranty. Since it is one of the top teenage joyride cars, I use a Club steering wheel lock on it. Unsure if my next car will be another Kia, though.
When I first noticed the new logo my mind went straight to Nine Inch Nails. The fonts are almost the same. I still think of the band every time I see it.
Any updates on the sudden burning 🔥 engines and batteries?
I am Korean, and when I saw the logo for the first time, I didn't know It was KIA
The 3rd stroke of the K is too awkward..it would have been better to have it vertical like the last stroke...legibility in the end is not important ...but the shape IS.
It's a logo ..not a sentence.
Since you're in the States, can you advise Ford to redesign it logo?
Hyundai Motor and Kia recorded sales of $196.2 billion and and operating profit of $20 billion in 2023, marking their best performance since the companies were founded.
Inreally love the rebranding of Kia. Looks better and futuristic look
Kia is pretty Nice, I like their Sedans
I distinctly remember KIA logo. There was a crossbar in A....mandela effect
I love Kia's new logo!
As a designer I loved how KIA evolved into the digital world, some manufacturers cannot give themselves this freedom because of their history such as VW (I also think they did a great job at making it feel modern but keep the og feeling) KIA had a chance to stand out and they took it because their old logo hadn’t a real personality, about legibility it really doesn’t matter since the concept is stronger than the need to read it, if you teach someone a certain figure is pronounced any way you want they’ll learn it eventually, that’s why when we see the swoosh we think Nike, easy
Great work! Brilliant rebranding.
An absolutely beautiful logo design!
I have to say, Kia's rebranding couldn't really have been more successful. A couple years ago, if you told a bunch of extroverts that you drove a Kia, they'd point at you and laugh.
Now they's look at you and ask "Whoa... You mean, like, one of those? Can i see it?"
But what did the introverts say
@@Momo_8k no pointing, no laughing, "no i dont want to see that car!"
A couple of? Perhaps ten years are way closer.
Such a fan of the rebrand. They are killing there designs & reliability. I was scared at first when I bought a Pre-owned rental 2019 KIA Forte because of all the bad things I’ve heard of the company, of course no company us perfect but I decided to give it a try especially since my mom had a Kia Sephia back when I was younger. 95,000 miles later and my little Forte has been great, no issues and still with its peppy original engine & transmission. My next upgrade will definitely be another Kia!
As a design I welcome this new change. I understood the logo the min I saw it. Way to go kia
When I first saw the redesigned logo I came home and searched to see who was behind the new brand effort and found out it was Black Space in Munich. And a few weeks later, in November, bought my first EV which was a KIA Niro. A good entry level car that ISN'T a Tesla.
Didnt get the Logo at first, but with time is brilliant. Great work kia. I drive a kia Forte. so far so good.
KIA is one of those clients that asks to "Make the logo bigger." You can see that freaking KIA logo from three miles away
My fav logo of all time. Is just an incredible rebrand
Best car logo AUDI & Tesla
Love the new "aggressive, futuristic" logo.
This makes sense for overall, but I really miss the old logo
family has 2 kia suvs now, and their cruise control tech is really good. I can see them having a FSD car soon
I thought it was Nine Inch Nails too
They should’ve focus grouped it a bit more, they should’ve carried the A across slash from the bottom of the I to really make it look like an A and could continue that rising line theme they talked about
my confusion with the new logo when I saw it on a car, actually made me Google it. So I guess it’s making people talk about KIA.