Kia Motors Plans to Double U.S. Sales by 2010, Improve Quality

Kia Motors Corp. expects to double its annual U.S. sales to about 500,000 vehicles in 2010, partly by reversing consumers' perception that South Korean vehicles aren't well built, according to Bloomberg News. South Korea's second-largest automaker created a U.S.-based engineering team on Sept. 1 focused on reducing vehicle defects to the industry average, Peter Butterfield, chief operating officer of Kia's U.S. unit, told reporters in Detroit. Kia is tying employee bonuses to quality goals, Butterfield said.