2012 Kia Optima EX

William Maley
Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com
July 23, 2012

Question: What is the second oldest nameplate in Kia's lineup? If you said the Sportage, you would be wrong. That happens to be the oldest nameplate. The answer is a tie between Kia's smallest and largest sedans: the Rio and Optima. For the time being we're going to focusing on the latter.

Introduced back in 2000, the Optima was met with... well.. zero fanfare. If you told someone that you just bought a Kia Optima, they would look at quizzically and say "A What!" The only way you would know the Optima existed beside passing you're nearest Kia dealership was when you picked up one from car rental place for your vacation.

In fact, in 2011, the 2000 - 2006 Kia Optima was the subject of a viral advertising campaign by Subaru about a ficticious car company that tried to come up with the most nondescript, boring car they could. The result was a car called the Mediocrity, a very thinly disguised 2001 Optima. But in that same year, Kia unveiled the new Optima. The sleek styling and commercial campaign made everyone stand up and take notice. Also, it put Subaru on notice as to who they’re dealing with.

Has this coming out work for the new Optima? And more importantly, Can the Optima vie for the title of the best midsize sedan?

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