IRVINE, Calif. — For model year 2002, the Kia Sephia officially becomes the Kia Spectra sedan, a name change designed to clarify and streamline Kia's model offerings in the United States.
The 2002 Spectra compact sedan will be offered in the same trim levels as before — base and LS — but now will join the sporty Spectra hatchback GS and GSX models to create a strengthened entry-level compact offering from Kia. Most notably, the new Spectra compact sedan incorporates exterior styling cues from the Spectra hatchback adding to the new "family look."
"The name change has been in the works for some time," said B.M. Ahn, president and CEO of Kia Motors America. "Changing Sephia to Spectra will promote a more integrated model line and help us consolidate some of our marketing efforts."
When Kia made its U.S. launch in 1994 with a single model, the company simply carried over the Sephia name for the compact sedan, a name that had been created for, and used in, the Korean market.
"We weren't able to do any substantial market research concerning the vehicle name when we launched," said Ahn. "So we went with Sephia but always knew that at some point it would change, especially because it was so often mispronounced."
With the debut of the sporty Spectra hatchback last year, Kia had time to thoroughly research and test the new Spectra name with American consumers. The name tested well, so with the cosmetic changes that were to make the hatchback and sedan look even more similar in the 2002 model year, the company felt the time was right to make the name change official.