The Kia Optima is a mid-size four-door sedan manufactured by Kia Motors since 2000 and marketed globally through various nameplates. First generation cars were mostly marketed as the Optima, although the Kia Magentis name was used in Europe and Canada when sales began there in 2002. For the second generation models, Kia used the Kia Lotze & Kia K5 name for the South Korean market, and the Magentis name globally, except in the United States and Malaysia where the Optima name was retained. The Optima name is now going to be used for all markets except China, where they will use the South Korean market name.
From 2000-2005 Optimas were a rebadged variant of the Hyundai Sonata, differing only from the Sonata in minor exterior styling details and equipment content.
In 2010, Subaru started a viral marketing campaign using a 2001-2002 Kia Optima dressed up as the "2011 Mediocrity", in order to "promote" a generic mid-size car with nothing special about it. It is being used in comparison to Subaru's real mid-size offering, the Subaru Legacy. All of the Kia badges were removed from the "2011 Mediocrity".
The 2002 Optima received a minor update. The Optima Regal was a luxurious version of Kia Optima sold in South Korea. American models did not wear the Kia logo on the grille, but the Kia logo was used in the grille for Canada. The grille was redesigned for the United States in 2003 (2004 model year) to feature the Kia badge, and the headlamps were restyled for 2004 (2005 model year).
The second generation Optima, known as the Kia Magentis globally except the United States and Malaysia, and as the Kia Lotze in South Korea, was launched in South Korea in November 2005. This generation differed further from the Hyundai Sonata donor vehicle than the previous model. Unlike the previous Optima though, this vehicle uses a global platform, unique to Kia, designated "MG". The car continues to be built in South Korea and shares its 2.4 litre inline-four engine, five-speed Sportmatic automatic or five-speed manual transmission with the Sonata.
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