Details of Cars

Kia Credos: Kia’s first own mid-size saloon

KIA

Kia Credos in olive green
Kia Credos in olive green. Photo by Damian B Oh, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The Kia Credos was Kia’s first self-developed mid-size family saloon. It went on sale in South Korea in 1995 and in Australia in 1998, and it was the last Kia to be built on a Mazda platform before the company turned to Hyundai engineering.

Kia Credos at a glance

Kia Credos key facts
Maker Kia
Production 1995–2000
Markets Korea from 1995, Australia from May 1998
Based on fifth-generation Mazda Capella/Cronos, also sold as the 626
Engines 1.8 Kia T8D, 2.0 Mazda FE SOHC, 2.0 FE-DOHC
Engine from 1998 2.0 V6 DOHC Rover KV6, built under licence
Body four-door saloon; estate from 1998
Estate name in Korea Parktown
Price in Britain about £11,000 for the 1.8 SX
Replaced by Kia Optima, September 2000

History of the Kia Credos

The Credos was a significant step for Kia: it was the company’s first mid-size family saloon developed in-house. Underneath, though, it still relied on Mazda, using the platform of the fifth-generation Mazda Capella, the car also sold as the Mazda Cronos and 626. It went on sale in Korea in 1995 and in Australia in May 1998.

Kia Credos, rear view
Kia Credos from the rear. Photo by Damian B Oh, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Engines

Three petrol engines were offered at first, depending on trim: a 1.8-litre Kia T8D unit, a 2.0-litre Mazda FE with a single overhead camshaft, and a 2.0-litre FE with twin overhead camshafts. A fourth engine, a licensed version of Rover’s 2.0-litre KV6, joined the range with the 1998 facelift, which also brought a station wagon called the Parktown in Korea. The estate was a commercial failure at home.

On the road

Contemporary descriptions called the interior dull but spacious and comfortable, with a very large boot. The basic 1.8 SX cost about £11,000 in Britain, some £4,000 less than an equivalent Ford Mondeo or Vauxhall Vectra. In Australia the Credos was sold only with the 2.0-litre engine and found 839 buyers over its three-year run.

The Credos was replaced in September 2000 by the Optima, which was based on Hyundai engineering. That ended the badge-engineering relationship with Mazda that had shaped Kia’s larger cars since the Concord and Capital.

Design and features

  • First in-house design: Kia’s first self-developed mid-size saloon.
  • Mazda platform: the fifth-generation Capella underpinnings.
  • Four engines: 1.8 and 2.0 fours, then a Rover-derived 2.0 V6.
  • Value pricing: about £4,000 below a Mondeo or Vectra in Britain.

Kia Credos versions

  • Credos 1.8 SX (1995–2000): the entry model with the Kia T8D engine.
  • Credos 2.0 (1995–2000): Mazda FE in single and twin-cam forms.
  • Credos 2.0 V6 (1998–2000): the facelifted car with the Rover KV6.
  • Parktown (1998–2000): the estate version, sold mainly in Korea.

The Credos replaced the Kia Capital and Concord and was itself replaced by the Kia Optima. Its smaller stablemate was the Sephia. More Kia models are in the Kia collection.

Sources

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