THE KIA car story actually began in the summer of 1991 with the introduction of the Pride, a supermini cloned from the original Mazda 121, which brought to these shores the true meaning of budget motoring.
Since those early days when refinement was at a premium and kit levels sparse, the Korean carmaker has moved on and become a much more serious player, so much so that the current year's sales has seen the company making some quite awesome progress.
With a stable headed by the Rio, Sedona MPV, Carens and Sorento, Kia Motors have already passed a number of milestones with the year-to-date indicator showing a record-breaking sales increase of around 80 per cent over 2002.
The key to this remarkable progress has been the spread of sales across the Kia range, for, while the Sedona is currently running in second place in the full-blown MPV sector, the marque's total sales are not dominated by one single model.
While the hatchback Rio currently leads the way for the Korean carmaker in the sales league, in a recent test drive I opted for the Kia Carens, a contender in the budget level compact MPV league.
The original Carens offered space on the cheap with either a five or six-seater layout. But it was marred by low quality trim levels and the fact that neither the passenger nor load areas were as flexible as some of the front runners in the sector, such as the Renault Scenic and Vauxhall Zafira.
But these days Kia is very much a listening company and, towards the end of last year, a revamped Carens was launched which had also benefited from Kia's Sedona experience, resulting in a car designed to shake off the lowly born tag attributed to its somewhat anonymous looking predecessor.
The reworked Carens has benefited from the adoption of a family-stye grille borrowed from the Sedona which, with larger front bumper, higher bonnet line and sporty fogs, gives the newcomer a more businesslike stance on the tarmac.
Higher quality materials have been introduced into an interior where the metal grain-effect trim of the dash combines well with a much more professional looking instrument dial set-up.
While the six-seat 2+2+2 set-up is no longer an option in the UK, much thought has gone into a revamp of the five-seat 2+3 accommodation, better use of the available space resulting in a more practical cabin with a good cupholder and cubbyhole count.
The 60:40 rear seats now fold to create a practical flat floor, while the boot space is now much more in tune with the requirements of family life. The load area flooring covers a storage system with a removable space organiser tray where valuables can be kept out of sight and wet clothing and dirty boots can be kept under wraps.
The brace of trim levels are now much more well equipped, the entry level LX coming with air con, six-speaker sound system, electrically adjustable door mirrors, electric windows all round, front fogs, ABS braking and the rest.
The SE test car was even more generously equipped with climate control air con, in-dash CD player to complement the sound system, electric slide/ tilt sun roof (only on the manual transmission model, I'm afraid), rain sensing wipers, electric rear view mirror, parking distance sensors and an auxiliary heater to warm things up on board more quickly in the winter, all coming as standard.
Three years ago, Kia was applauded for the introduction of the 1.8-litre petrol engine into the original Carens range, instead of a much more budget orientated 1.6-litre.
This 124bhp power source remains in the line-up, but the test car was powered by the two litre commonrail diesel, a 112bhp engine which, while not managing to quite hide its oil-burning heritage even from an untrained ear, did do its work in pretty efficient and economical fashion.
However, throughout the test I did long to have the five speed manual transmission close to hand instead of the four-slot auto box, which not only slowed down progress and reduced overall mpg, but also made a difference to the CO2 emissions level.
But overall this is a good effort by Kia. It's still a budget performer, bowing in with a 1.8 LX entry level model at under £10,000. but overall quality is vastly improved making this a good value for money starting point in this hotly contested sector.
FAST FACTS
Kia Carens 2.0 CRDi SE Auto
Price: £13,445
Mechanical: 111bhp, 1,991cc 4 cyl diesel engine driving front wheels via 4-spd automatic transmission
Max speed: 106mph
0-62mph: 14secs
Combined mpg: 37.2
Insurance group: 9
CO2 emissions: 205g/km
BiK rating: 26%
Warranty: 3yrs/ unlimited miles; 6yrs anti-rust