Welcome to the Kia Motors Ireland LinkedIn Page. Join in the conversation with us at Kia - see the latest Kia models, enjoy the latest Kia news and be part of the Kia community! Let's start from the beginning.... Kia was founded in 1944, on the outskirts of Seoul, as a manufacturer of bicycle parts. From its humble beginnings, the company has gone from strength to strength, emerging as the driving force behind the Korean motor industry. Kia can also take credit for the production and export of Korea's first cars. As a global company, Kia Motors produces in excess of 2 million cars a year and, as such, a wide range of Kia vehicles including passenger cars, commercial vehicles and buses can be seen throughout the world. Kia has always been proud of its heritage - and this is reflected in its name. In fact, the word 'Kia' is derived from the Chinese characters 'ki' meaning to 'arise or come up out of' - and 'a', which refers to Asia. So, the name Kia literally means 'to come out of Asia'. Today, Kia has become a household name, with an ever-expanding range of models sold through a network of dealers in 172 countries and over 44,000 employees across the globe. But no matter how big we become, our customers remain our top priority and we aim to provide the same personal service as we did when we began, over sixty-seven years ago.