Fiesta Kia

 Even though a lot about Kia has changed over the last decade, one thing has stayed the same. This one thing is probably the only thing left to change, and that's why there's a new Kia logo in Albuquerque NM on the horizon.

Lately, Kia has been on fire - especially in the United States. Models like the award winning Telluride, the new Seltos crossover, the vibrant K5 sedan and others have been launched to rave reviews. From its humble beginnings in 1994, the Kia brand debuted in the US with only the Sephia, a bargain-basement economy car, being sold. Fast forward to Kia's current lineup and you'd never guess it's the same company.

New Kia Logo in Albuquerque NM: Kia Evolution

Yet here we are. The 20 plus years of the company's evolution from producing cheap means of transportation to vying for a top spot among Ford, Toyota, Honda, and others (and even surpassing them!) calls for a branding reset. Fortunately, a re-imagining of the new Kia logo in Albuquerque NM was hidden in plain sight at the 2019 Geneva Auto Show, right there on the front and rear of the electric concept car, Imagine by Kia.

According to Automotive News, Kia's global CEO says the company is pushing to be "more dynamic, stylish, and inventive," with a major emphasis on electric vehicles. Kia is promising at least 11 EVs in their lineup by the year 2025, and this promise is partly backed by a huge $25 billion investment. It was also stated that Kia will "try to set up our new customer target together with our brand re-launch."

So, the new Kia logo is a big part of the brand re-launch, and was previewed on the concept car. In February of this year, patent filings were leaked, and the company officially confirmed the arrival of the new logo.

In stark contrast to the brand's current logo, where the word "KIA" is in the center of a bland silver oval, the Imagine by Kia wears the word in a modern, NASA like font, sort of a triangular motif, with all the letters being connected. There's no generic oval, and no real visual link to the 1994 Sephia and it is immensely more fitting for the front and rear ends of vehicles like the red hot Stinger and the redesigned Sorento, among others! The new Kia logo in Albuquerque NM is fresh, modern, and cleverly stylish--all words we'd use to describe basically any current Kia auto.

Just to be clear, companies seldom get rid of their logos and start over. Even minor changes to long standing brand symbols are carried out very carefully. So taking a logo like Kia's, which is young by industry standards, and changing it in a major way risks confusing buyers and ruining brand awareness.

However, the new Kia logo in Albuquerque NM is merely its name, not a graphic symbol like the Mercedes-Benz star, or the blue and white BMW emblem; it's just in a better looking font. It doesn't appear to be such a drastic change that customers won't know it. The new design was filed about a year ago with the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) and comes in both black and red, with the red possibly being reserved for performance models.

No matter what color, we're already fans of the sleek, joined-up look, and we think it's a distinct improvement over the old logo. Stop by Fiesta Kia at 7400Lomas Blvd NE, Albuquerque NM (hopefully) sometime in January or February 2021 to see the first production vehicle with the stylish new badge!