From bikes to trucks: Kia’s rise in the local automobile industry

The T-600 was one of the early three-wheeled trucks manufactured by Kia Industry. [JoongAng Ilbo]

Korea’s early automakers got off to a rocky start. The country’s first locally-made vehicles, such as the Sibal and the Saenara, didn’t quite live up to the hopes of manufacturers. In fact, the cars were taken off the market shortly after they were introduced.

The industry, however, was undeterred as it strived to make successful automobiles that Korea could call its own.

Leading the charge was Kia Industry, which offered up the country’s first three-wheeled truck, the K-360, in 1962. The company, which today is called Kia Motors, was founded by Kim Chul-ho in 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry. In its early days, the company focused on manufacturing bicycle parts, and in 1952, it manufactured the first Korean-made bicycle.

It was not until after the Korean War, which wound down in 1953, that it jumped into the automobile market.

Kim ? who had a strong background in metalworking from his job at a steel mill in Japan as a young man ? led the company down a new path in 1961 with the development of the first Korean-made motorcycle. Kia’s three-wheeled truck K-360 was introduced a year later.

Kim was known for his ambition. It is said that he once told his top officials at Kia Industry that the company would move well beyond its current products and eventually make four-wheeled passenger vehicles and, in the future, even airplanes.

The production of the K-360 was a new step for the Korean automobile industry. Until then, most vehicles were either made by hand or using a small production line.

Kia Industry was the first Korean company to apply equipment and techniques capable of mass production, featuring a modern pipe production facility with equipment from West Germany and a 1,000-ton presser from Japan.

The K-360 had an engine capacity of 356 cc and weighed 485 kilograms (1,067 pounds). The vehicle’s maximum speed was 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour.

A year later, Kia Industry introduced the upgraded version of the three-wheeled truck: the T-600. The engine capacity of the new vehicle was 1,484 cc, and the automobile weighed 1,480 kilograms.

However, sales of the vehicle didn’t do as well as expected. Three-wheeled vehicles were a huge hit in neighboring Japan, but they didn’t take off here in part because of the economic issues at the time. The best year for Kia’s vehicle came in 1963, when the company sold 191 units.

By Lee Ho-jeong

BLAST FROM THE PAST

3. From bikes to trucks: Kia’s rise in the local automobile industry

2.Saenara : Short-lived Saenara sedan earned a place in history books

1.Siba: Korea’s first car drove off to a new beginning