In the past 10 years Kia Motors has risen from being an unknown brand to one of the fastest growing marques in Britain. Last year the South Korean company recorded a 57.8% increase in sales compared with a market-wide decline of 0.5%.

It arrived in this country on the back of a deal with Ford and Ford’s associate company Mazda, which had subcontracted the building of the Mazda 121 — a version of the Ford Fiesta — for the American market to take advantage of cheaper labour rates.

In 1991 Ford allowed Kia to market a previous-generation version of this car under its own name and so the Kia Pride was born.

Kia was founded in 1944 to make metal tubes. It graduated to making bicycles, then in 1962 to manufacturing three-wheeled delivery trucks. It started building cars in 1974.

The Pride helped Kia gain a reputation for affordable reliability, and the manufacturer quickly capitalised on this by adding the Mentor family car to its line-up in 1994 and the Sportage off-roader in 1995.

Both used Mazda engines but the Sportage was developed with the engineering assistance of Lotus.

Crippling economic conditions in South Korea in 1998 scuppered Kia’s rise, and it was rescued from insolvency by its Korean rival Hyundai. New Kia models since 2001 have shared platforms with equivalent Hyundais, starting with the Kia Magentis executive saloon based on the Sonata platform.

Critics’ reactions to Kia’s cars range from lukewarm to indifferent. But there’s no doubt that the super-cheap Rio, roomy Sedona MPV and capable Sorento off-roader offer value for money.

Today, Kia provides a decent alternative to Japanese-built cars for economy and reliability.