The Kia Optima is a mid-size car produced by South Korean automaker Kia Motors since 2000, over four distinct generations.
The Optima started life as essentially a rebadged version of the Hyundai Sonata, evolving into a more distinguished product over subsequent generations, although the two are still very much related. The current fourth-generation model line first appeared for the 2016 model year, carrying forth the same sleek, sporty design philosophy debuted by the previous-generation Kia Optima. If it looks vaguely German to you, that’s because the design sort of is; both the third- and fourth-generation Optima models were penned by Peter Schreyer, who formerly designed cars for Volkswagen’s Audi brand.
The mid-size sedan segment in which the Kia Optima competes is heating up, with Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen all completely redesigning their own entrants between 2017 and 2020. The Optima can’t possibly get by on German design sensibilities alone, and while sales have generally been healthy over the past few years, the car has never quite managed to catch up to its Hyundai-badged sibling.
That’s not to say that the Kia Optima is lacking merit; it’s a well-engineered, feature-rich sedan more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the rest of the pack. Whether it can remain relevant in such a highly competitive segment as Kia’s rivals continue to pump out their own praise-worthy products is yet to be seen.
In the North American market, the Kia Optima is assembled at Kia’s West Point, Georgia plant, alongside the Sorento and Telluride mid-size crossover utility vehicles.