OREANDA-NEWS. November 24, 2015. On the heels of recent honors from Kelley Blue Book® and J.D. Power®, the 2016 Kia Optima and Sedona continue to accumulate awards and accolades with both being named amongst best cars of the year for Hispanic families by the Hispanic Motor Press Awards®. The all-new 2016 Kia Optima topped the Family Sedan category, while the 2016 Sedona was named the best minivan of the year.

"Passionately designed and obsessively crafted, the all-new Optima and our Sedona minivan appeal to families of all backgrounds by delivering world-class styling and quality, cutting-edge technology and tremendous value," said Orth Hedrick, vice president of product planning, KMA. "The Hispanic market is an incredibly important audience for Kia as well as the entire auto industry, and this recognition from the Hispanic Motor Press Awards validates two of our most recently redesigned our vehicles as favorites amongst this group."

Started in 2010, the Hispanic Motor Press Awards considers over 100 vehicles before selecting three final contenders in different categories. Each vehicle's features were assessed as they relate to the typical Hispanic family in the United States. The award vetting process includes test drives, mass market availability, and affordability data valuations. Judges also take into account overall design, comfort, safety, performance, functionality and overall value package when making their final selection.

About Kia Motors America

Kia Motors America (KMA) is the marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea.  KMA proudly serves as the "Official Automotive Partner" of the NBA and LPGA and set an all-time annual sales record in 2014, surpassing the 500,000 unit mark for the third consecutive year. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles, including the rear-drive K900[1] flagship sedan, Cadenza premium sedan, Sorento CUV, Soul urban passenger vehicle, Soul Electric Vehicle2, Sportage compact CUV, Optima midsize sedan, Optima Hybrid, the Forte compact sedan, Forte5 and Forte Koup, Rio and Rio 5-door subcompacts and the Sedona midsize multi-purpose vehicle, through a network of more than 765 dealers across the United States.  Kia’s U.S. manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia, builds the Optima* and Sorento* and is responsible for the creation of more than 15,000 plant and supplier jobs.

Information about KMA and its full vehicle line-up is available at www.kia.com. For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com.  To receive custom email notifications for press releases the moment they are published, subscribe at www.kiamedia.com/us/en/newsalert.

About Hispanic Motor Press Awards®

Since 2010 the objective of the awards has been to select the best offerings in overall design, comfort, safety, performance, functionality, driver satisfaction and consumer final cost to select the vehicles that offer the best value for the Hispanic family. The Hispanic consumer deserves to know the truth about which vehicles are the best values in the market. For more information and to find out about previous winning vehicles visit:  www.hispanicmotorpressawards.com

* The Sorento and Optima GDI (EX, SX & Limited and certain LX Trims only) are assembled in the United States from U.S. and globally sourced parts.

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[1] K900 available in select trims and in select markets with limited availability.

2 Soul EV in select markets with limited availability.

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