actually kia has a liscense to build cars using mazda technology ,eg. like suspension similar engine but not mazda design .kia got the blue prints from mazda but change some aspects of it ,but overall the cars are great just like the mazda s very good car ehich most ppl dont even know,,mazdas are rated hight than our local contenders like honda mistsu nissan toyo..in japan u can barely get a used mazda to buy ..southern sales is what gave mazda a bad name by bring the cheap ones here and doing conversations in mexico them to trinidad..sad though for a well built cars from japan ..
I know the first generation Sephia used a 1.8 Mazda Motor found in the 94-98 Protege/323F. I know the Kia Pride is a Mazda vehicle rebadged. I know Hyundai purchased Kia so Kia has nothing to do with Mazda anymore but Hyundai.
Nevertheless.......Kia did better than Hyundai in the early days but suffered namely because they are south korean. They are good vehicles just like a nowadays Hyundai but a step ahead of Daewoo. Kia is actually doing better than companies like Subaru, Suzuki, Isuzu, Daihatsu and several American, French and European brands.
The Kia Cerato is actually a better car than a Saturn Ion. When compared locally, this Kia would have a hard time beating the Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Lancer and Hyundai Elantra. If you want to be different and buy a South Korean vehicle then get the latest 08' Elantra now available in our showrooms for $157,000. Vat Inclusive. If you want the smartest and latest in Jap technology then the Mazda 3 and Honda Civic is the way to go. If you like alot of features and good looks then the Mazda 3 is the only choice. It would never be a popular car in roro neither in the Clasifieds. You get relative exclusivity, high resale value and good reliability.
