Kia Optima turbo gets a thumbs up from the man on the street

Aug 26, 2011 10:15 AM

When you drive a different car every couple of days, as we do around here, it’s always interesting to see what, if any, reaction the “ride du jour” draws from people on the street. In my experience, the overwhelming majority of the time, nobody cares. Why should they?

That’s why I find those rare occasions interesting when a stranger does feel motivated to ask about my car. The Kia Optima turbo I’ve been in for the past couple of days is a good example. And what makes this one particularly interesting is that our Optima, while it is the sportified turbo version with low-profile tires and other styling tweaks, is at the end of the day a four-door family sedan. Nothing exotic here.

The comments and questions have pretty much revolved around its styling, and they have been generally positive. From some of the outgoing questioners, there have been follow-up inquiries about fuel economy, performance, and even price.

I’ve enjoyed my time in the Optima, and I tend to agree with the people on the street about its looks. This got me thinking about Kia’s approach to four-door family transport, especially in the wake of Toyota’s introduction of the new Camry this week.

Where the Optima’s styling could be described as bold and maybe even distinctive, Toyota has taken a more conservative approach, as is their wont. I don’t have a problem with that, but I’d reckon a lot of people will have a hard time telling the new Camry from the old one. (Check out 2012 Camry photos.) The same conservative route was chosen by Honda with the recently introduced seventh-generation Civic, which is near-indiscernible from its predecessor. Nobody had any questions when I recently spent a week and 1,000 miles in our Civic test car.

Kia, meanwhile, along with parent company Hyundai, has been taking an extroverted approach to the look of their bread-and-butter sedans, and it seems to be paying off. Both brands are boasting double-digit sales increases in a sagging new car market—overall and for their mid-sized family sedans—while Toyota and Honda have seen declining numbers. Yes, some of that has to do with the horrific disasters that hit Japan earlier this year, but Camry and Accord were losing market share and facing increased global competition last year, long before the earthquake and Tsunami hit.

The increased sales at Kia and Hyundai can also be chalked up to their simply building better cars than they used to, as has been reflected in their increased standing in our Ratings. The Optima and related Hyundai Sonata, in particular, have decent interior room, safety ratings, fuel economy, and represent good values for families.

Styling is subjective, and neither the Optima nor the Sonata will appeal to everybody. Nor are the cars without fault. Both have had a mysterious pull in the steering that has lead to numerous customer complaints and a customer service campaign for the Sonata to remedy the problem.

Still, it pays to be different, as the saying goes. And so far, it seems to be paying off handsomely for Kia and Hyundai. As for sticking to a more conservative strategy to keep loyal customers returning to showrooms? Just ask Oldsmobile how that worked out.