Kia Motor Corp

Kia Motor Corp., the South Korean auto maker that produces the Festiva subcompact sold by Ford dealers, plans to join its homeland rival Hyundai as an independent auto importer and distributor in the United States. The company, which established a small temporary office in Irvine in January, said it wants to keep its headquarters here. It will become the sixth Asian auto maker to anchor its U.S. import arm in Orange County.

Here at Hyundai Motor America'S. headquarters, they aren't planning a rousing welcome for competitor Kia Motors North America. But HMA President D. O. Chung says he is happy to see the second largest of Korea's three major car makers come ashore. "If they come into this market with a good product, then they enhance Korean products, and that is a benefit to us," he said.

Here at Hyundai Motor America'S. headquarters, they aren't planning a rousing welcome for competitor Kia Motors North America. But HMA President D. O. Chung says he is happy to see the second largest of Korea's three major car makers come ashore. "If they come into this market with a good product, then they enhance Korean products, and that is a benefit to us," he said.

Kia Motor Corp., the South Korean auto maker that produces the Festiva subcompact sold by Ford dealers, plans to join its homeland rival Hyundai as an independent auto importer and distributor in the United States. The company, which established a small temporary office in Irvine in January, said it wants to keep its headquarters here. It will become the sixth Asian auto maker to anchor its U.S. import arm in Orange County.

Kia Motors North America is finally getting its cash fix from parent Kia Motor Corp. in South Korea, reports chief operating officer Greg Warner. He won't say what the subsidiary's first year operating budget will be, but it is big enough that the government-controlled Central Bank of Korea had to approve the transfer of funds from Seoul to Irvine, where Kia's U.S. headquarters have been set up.

Ford Motor, sitting on a $7.1-billion pile of cash, remains interested in a major non-automotive acquisition, Chairman Donald E. Petersen says. "We bid on Hughes, so that says we believe we have the ability to consider an acquisition of substantial size. So, the intent is clearly yes," Petersen said in an interview. "But our posture is one of patience, and I have no predictions," he said. Ford, the No. 2 U.S.

Kia Motors America Inc. is taking air bags to a lower level this month by introducing the industry's first "knee air bag" on its 1996 sports utility vehicle, called the Sportage. The new air bag inflates nearly 5 inches from a panel below the steering column, exploding simultaneously with chest air bags in the steering wheel on impact.

Consider the state of the world's auto industry: a glut of 20 million vehicles; 75% of auto makers are losing money; consumers demand more but want to pay less; regulators are mandating new, cleaner engines; and suppliers are being squeezed to lower costs. It all adds up to a caldron of forces feeding a mergers and acquisitions frenzy of historic proportions. The breakneck speed of change was evident Thursday as two major deals totaling nearly $15 billion in value were announced.