I worked at Kia dealerships for about 2.5 yrs...
The pre 98 Kias (Sephia) as you know were Mazda drive train..

The 98+ Kias have bad eletrical problems...I personally think this is thier main problems...On the pre 98 ones we used to do alot of ground work..and they car wasnt that bad...

Kia has been around for a very long time..Just not in the US ..they have so many diffrent types of vehicles out in Korea you dont see of hear about...The have trucks..Buses..a 2 seater 2 door sports car...

I think the Rio was a waste if time and money..they car cant get out of its own wind..Kia needs to look towards a 2 door car with a sporty look...

Well since Huyndia took over and is working with Kia ...Hopefully things will get bigger...Yes im sad to say I own a Kia also..I got it cheap...and whats it decked out in its not bad...The main problem We have with it is the dam ground effect kit..But SOON the car will be gone..we are already looking into the MazdaSpeed 6 turbo charged MP3 body style tuned by RacingBeat/(The US biggest Rotary tuners) Racing Hart/Sparco/Calleyway/and Mazdas perfoamance division MazdaSpeed...