IT’S been over 35 years since KIA sold their first car in the UK and in the decades that followed the South Korean company has made giant strides to today being an industry leader – with over 113,000 vehicles sold in 2025 taking 5.6 percent of the market.

Yes, there were a few miss-steps along the way to taking such a big slice of new car sales with early designs that did not entirely prove a hit with European buyers – but that is now all in the past.

A trip to North Yorkshire to try out KIA’s 2026 line up proved just why they are now so successful. Along with northern motoring colleagues I got behind the wheel of everything from the diminutive three-cylinder Picanto to the huge (and hugely fast) seven seat EV9 GT at the sprawling Swinton estate.

At the drive it day was a line-up of fourteen of KIA’s current range – almost all electric – and things have really moved on from that very first KIA Pride in 1991.

Two of the current models were top of my must drive list as I had yet to try the EV2 and its bigger brother the EV4.

Even though they are siblings there are big external design differences between the pair as the 4 shares its overall look with the sporty EV6 while the 2 is more of a small SUV – squared off and quite chunky.

The 2 range is priced from £24,245 but this version was the range topping GT-Line S which is £32,495 after deducting the government Electric Car Grant of £3,750. Like all electric cars it is fast and quiet but despite it being a relatively small car and high sided the handling on Yorkshire’s twisty back roads was excellent and level of equipment high. That all important range figure is 257 miles on a full charge for combined driving but goes up considerably in the city to around 364.

The 4 is also electric and I sampled both the hatchback and fastback versions. Starting from £30.995 for the entry level ‘Air’ model, including the ECG, this is a sportier beast with a 0 to 62 time of 7.5 seconds and 105mph top speed – the fastback I also drove was even quicker as it was the GT-Line S which hits 62 in 5.6 seconds thanks to its 288 bhp dual motor all-wheel drive set up.

So thanks to those lovely people at KIA I enjoyed a day of fun in the sun with some impressive new vehicles – even the cheery little Picanto put a smile on my face.

For more information on the latest KIA cars see www.kia.co.uk and full road tests of the EV 2 and EV 4 will be coming shortly.

By Motoring Editor Steve Howarth