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Sportage Named 'Best Buy In 4WD' by Four Wheeler; Kia's SUV Wins for Fourth Time in Five Years

27 June 2000

Sportage Named 'Best Buy In 4WD' by Four Wheeler; Kia's SUV Wins for Fourth Time in Five Years

    IRVINE, Calif., June 27 For the fourth time in five years,
the Kia Sportage was selected as one of Four Wheeler magazine's "10 Best Buys
in 4WD."  Based on an extensive review of subcompact, four-door sport-utility
vehicles, Four Wheeler chose the Sportage as its overall winner and considered
it a better buy than Chevy Tracker, Suzuki Grand Vitara and Suzuki Vitara.
    Four Wheeler praised the Sportage for its "back-to-basics,
simple-is-better approach" and noted the Sportage has a distinct advantage in
towing capacity and cargo capacity.  Those things contributed to the Sportage
winning the same award it won in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
    The magazine wrote that "this category has probably made the most
significant strides in the last five or ten years in design and build quality
of any in the world of four-wheel drive."
    Since its introduction in 1995, the Sportage has received several other
honors.  In 1997 and 1998, IntelliChoice named it a Best Overall Value of the
Year; the Men's Journal 1997 Buyer's Guide named it a "Best Buy" among compact
sport-utility vehicles; and Popular Science gave it a "Best of What's New"
award in 1995.

    Kia Motors America is the U.S. sales, marketing and service arm of Kia
Motors Corp. in Seoul, South Korea.