Kia Motors Corp

After taking a hands-off stance for months, the South Korean government reversed itself Wednesday and said it will take control of debt-ridden Kia Motors Corp. in the largest corporate bailout in Korean history. News of the $760-million rescue plan, which addresses a core problem that had damaged the country's economic outlook, resulted in the biggest one-day gain ever seen in Seoul's stock market. The benchmark Kospi Index soared 35.1 points, or 6.2%, to close at 601.93.

Kia Motors Corp., the Irvine unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., is recalling 76,986 Sportage sport-utility vehicles made from 1997 to 1999 to repair the fuel injector. Kia will modify the faulty fuel injection wire harness circuit.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest auto maker, won an auction for insolvent Kia Motors Corp., offering the highest bid among four candidates, Kia said. An unnamed Hyundai official said the company asked creditors to write off more than $5.3 billion of Kia debt.

South Korea's Kia Motors Corp., shrugging off a financial crisis that prompted a government bailout this fall, said it will expand its U.S. product line from two models to seven in the next four years. Irvine-based Kia Motors America, which now sells the Sephia compact sedan and Sportage sport-utility vehicle in the U.S., said it will introduce a two-door convertible Sportage in the spring, a minivan and two new subcompact cars in the 2000 model year and a new mid-size sedan in 2001.

Korean car maker Kia Motors Corp. appointed its U.S. operations chief to its board of directors. W. Greg Warner, 51, becomes the first American executive of an Asian car company to sit on its board. Elevating its U.S. subsidiary's top American executive to the board is a good move for Kia, analysts said, but is unlikely to set off a round of similar appointments by other Asian auto makers.

Kia Motors Corp., a Seoul-based car and truck maker, said it's recalling 32,653 Sephia compact sedans to fix a defective hose that could cause the car to fail emissions tests. Sephias made between July 1, 1995, and Nov. 4, 1996, have hoses that are deteriorating prematurely, Kia said. That could cause them to fail tests necessary to renew automobile registrations. Kia said it will notify Sephia owners by mail that repairs will be made free of charge at a Kia dealership.

South Korean automaker Kia Motors Corp., a member of Hyundai Automotive Group, is expected to announce plans for its first U.S. manufacturing plant as early as next week, with a site in southwestern Georgia believed to be the leading candidate. The area is within 100 miles of Hyundai Motor Co.'s assembly plant in Montgomery, Ala., and is close to a number of Hyundai suppliers. A spokesman at Kia's U.S. headquarters in Irvine said the company would make an announcement "by the end of the quarter."