Taking the Kia-Blake Griffin partnership – Blake Griffin is an official spokesperson for the Kia brand with several new TV spots set to air in the U.S. over the next few months – to the next level, West Coast Customs (WCC) has created a basketball-themed Optima Hybrid that adds some hardwood flair to Kia’s first-ever hybrid in America.

The inspiration behind the WCC Optima Hybrid is immediately apparent with its basketball-like custom orange paint scheme, which is accentuated by 20-inch matt black wheels and Griffin’s personal logo on the bonnet.

Inside, hoop fans will find basketball-court flooring in the front and rear seating areas, custom leather seats with Griffin’s autograph embroidered in the front headrests, leather and suede door panel inserts and headliner, and a booming audio system with custom enclosures built into the rear deck lid. Two flat-screen TVs mounted in the back of the front headrests connect to a Microsoft X-Box video game console and a “Pop-A-Shot” basketball hoop is mounted in the trunk for hours of off-the-court entertainment.

Again, pointless, but cool.

Antenna Hat Trick Forte 5-door is inspired by hockey, and has a custom hockey stick holder that stretches from the trunk through the center of the vehicle into the cabin.

Car-like features in this Kia include grey exterior paint, 19-inch blue alloy wheels, a custom body kit and Forte Koup front bumper with carbon fibre accents and LED “hockey stick” fog lights, a quad-tipped exhaust, carbon fibre roof material and a lowered suspension.

The headlining features a built-in hockey coach’s play board and the locker room-like rear cargo area features built-in compartments that house four carbon fibre hockey sticks and two jerseys color matched to the exterior of the car, an ice skate rack and glove hooks to dry out sweaty game-used equipment, and custom accent lighting.

It’s hard to see this sport-themed cars Kia has made this year, but they are good for show.

The Rio has been lowered with a modified suspension set-up for sportier handling, and the aggressive exterior stance is accentuated by eye-grabbing 17-inch three-piece gold wheels, a stunning sunset-metallic golden-brown paint scheme, a custom body kit with a front splitter made of wood to match the surfboard on the roof and a redesigned rear fascia with centre-exit dual exhaust.

The rest of the features are less car-like!

The front and rear seats and door panels of the Rio are upholstered in brown and beige plaid board shorts fabric, and the wood grain center console brings the classic surfboard theme inside.  For even more fun in the sun, the rear center console has been modified as a shelf to hold sunblock and other beach and ocean accessories, and the dark brown suede headliner has a built-in towel rack.

Check out this Soul for example. Built by West Coast Customs, the golf-themed “Hole in One” Soul was inspired by Michelle Wie, Kia’s official golf ambassador and one of the most recognisable young athletes around the world.

Features? Well, it gets “So Blue” exterior paint scheme and five-spoke 20-inch wheels incorporate her original artwork. Wie’s artwork and personal logo also are integrated into the Soul’s “Snow White” leather headrests, while a baby blue painted dash and pink headliner and seating accents complete the whimsical interior look.

Driver and passengers will be instantly transported to the golf course by the artificial grass flooring throughout the Soul, and opening the rear hatch reveals a virtual driving range with a 26-inch LED TV monitor mounted into the rear hatch and a Microsoft X-Box 360 video game console and Microsoft  Kinect system to play golf out of the back of the vehicle.  Two of Wie’s tournament-used golf bags are mounted behind the TV and conceal eight-inch speakers and a subwoofer.

The official details are yet to be revealed but it seems tat instead of a full body kit they’ve gone for some add-on parts for the front and rear aprons. There’s also a new set of black alloys which make a nice contrast with the white color of the body.

The whole car actually has a black and white theme, thanks to the extensive use of graphics. Apparently it’s called Edition 001 and features black roof, black mirror casing, black grille and of course lettering on the sides and the back.

Further Readings:

• 2012 Kia Rio Details and Specs
• Dynamax All-Wheel-Drive system for 2011 Kia Sportage

As you know the new Sorento has become a crossover, more of a high-riding city car than a SUV, so Cobra has come up with a new front guard for it called the Cityguard. The Cityguard is a 60mm thick steel bar under the front bumper which should protect the front of the car in case you run over a small objects, like your neighbor’s hatchback for example! But it’s more about the looks.

This steel bar also has LED lights in it for extra coolness. Furthermore there are steel bars as the side steps and for the rear bumper as well. The tuner also offers 19 or 20-inch sporty rims available in four different designs.

Cobra products have two year unlimited warranty.

Further Readings:

• 2012 Kia Picanto Details and Specs
• 2011 Kia Sorento wins safety award from IIHS

Kia is a Korean Automobile Brand that is also Korea’s second largest manufacturer and has been in business since 1944, and is also owned by Hyundai KIA Automotive. They have been in the American market for quite some time and their American base is called the Kia America Motors. They opened their first U.S. full manufacturing plant in Georgia last year at a cost of over a billion dollars, marking their firm grasp in the American market share for automobiles.

Kia is South Korea’s oldest car manufacturing company having been around since 44 while they manufactured bicycle frames, and later in 52 when they built motorcycles, trucks, and cars. In 1986 they really took off, having partnered with ford and benefited from the Asian Car Manufacturing boom, seeing their sales income rise they were able to make many smart investments and other monetary accomplishments before the bust of the 90′s.

However after they had been incorporated in the U.S. and their Kia branded cars and trucks sold – they started to experience some fiscal problems. Although they expanded in the early nineties to every region one at a time, by 1997 they had declared Bankruptcy. The Asian market collapsed around them and their sales went to pot, unable to recoup costs. Thus they were acquired by Hyundai – who actually was able to outbid Ford for their brand name and company holdings. Currently Kia holds several locations and has a few subsidiaries and affiliates.

There is Kia Motors Europe that services the European branch of the company, the Kia Dewan Motors, which services Pakistan, the Doongpung Ywieda Kia, Kia Motors America which services (if you cant guess this turn your computer off) the US and Canada, Asia Motors, and Kia Motors Slovakia which services… Slovakia. Currently they have many vehicles (too many to list) in production for many of the companies they re-brand for and their own sales too.

Further Readings:

• Kia Optima Hybrid Specs
• 2011 Kia Sorento SX In America

Kia is actually South Korea’s oldest car company. Kia was founded in 1944 and their first purpose was that of a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycles. It wasn’t until 1952 that Kia acquired its current name and shortly thereafter they moved into the manufacturing of motorcycles, pickups, and smaller cars. For the better part of three decades Kia served as one of South Korea’s main domestic manufacturer of automobiles. Beginning in 1986, Kia entered into partnership with the Ford Motor Company and began producing and selling vehicles that were derived from Mazda models. For the first time these vehicles built by Kia were intended for export to other countries just as much as they were intended for sales in their home country of South Korea. These first models were the Pride and the Avella, in North America and the Australia area these were sold as the Ford Festiva and the Ford Aspire.

Kia Motors foothold in the United States started with the incorporation of Kia Motors America in 1992. The first vehicles sold in the United States as Kia branded vehicles were sold in 1994. Kia had a unique business plan in that their first four dealerships were all located in Portland, Oregon. They would then set about slowly expanding in America one geographic region at a time. Kia began by offering very basic and inexpensive new cars featuring the Kia Sephia and later the mini-SUV Kia Sportage.

Kia had begun importing their smaller cars into Europe in 1991, but it wasn’t until the late 1990′s that Kia expanded fully into the European market with production centered from their plant in Germany. Kia grew to become popular in Europe behind its smaller cars and the mini-SUV Sportage. It wasn’t until the 2000′s that Kia began marketing their full size vehicles along side their cheaper economical cars.

Due to the Asian financial crisis of the time, Kia declared bankruptcy in 1997 and were acquired a year later by rival and fellow South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai. Interestingly, Hyundai had outbid the Ford Motor Company for the Kia Motors property, Ford had a relationship with Kia stretching back to 1986 and had even owned an interest in the company before its bankruptcy.

Kia started in the North American and European markets with essentially the same strategy, marketing one and then two of their less expensive models until a foothold was established and then expanding into a wider variety of car offerings. Today, Kia has a competitive automobile available in almost every sector as larger car companies except for the luxury and sports car markets. Kia looks poised to remain a popular car maker for many years to come based on its aggressive car pricing model combined with its steady focus on grown and expansion into new markets.