How Kia's New Logo Confused Drivers Around The World

A perfect logo sparks instant recognition around the world. Millions of us can easily identify Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola, and McDonald's, for example, and the best logos keep it simple but still convey a purposeful meaning. Nike's swoosh, for example, is meant to convey the wings of the Greek goddess of victory. Logos are an integral part of a brand's identity, which is why changing them can be risky.

There have been plenty of logo-related missteps over the years. Gap abandoned its iconic blue square logo in 2010 and faced backlash, quickly reverting to its old logo. Tropicana learned the same lesson a year earlier when it temporarily replaced its classic orange with a new minimalist design. The most famous logo redesign debacle of the 2020s, however, is probably Kia — or should we say, KN?

Kia has used five logos over the years, but in 2021, it turned away from the recognizable red oval to embrace the electric era — which, it decided, required a bold new look. The new logo was a continuous, angular design that, crucially, didn't feature a crossbar for the letter "A." It was meant to represent the company's forward-thinking direction, but it only proved that lofty ideas sometimes confuse consumers instead. Instead of seeing the word "Kia," many people read the new logo as "KN." In fact, soon after the logo debuted, up to 30,000 Americans were Googling "KN car" every month, and search activity hasn't abated at all in the years since.

Any seasoned graphic designer will tell you that a great logo is simple and legible. While Kia's redesigned logo certainly nailed the former, it missed the latter almost entirely. The straight lines and missing crossbar on the letter A blend the two final letters together, creating a logo that is easy to misread. Some have proposed a slight change to the design to make it more readable, including simply adding a crossbar to the A or breaking the letters up.

The automaker does not appear to have any plans for another redesign, however, and the confusing logo looks to be here to stay. Perhaps it's a case of any attention is good attention — after all, thousands of consumers did end up Googling the brand. Ultimately, the rebranding misstep, if it was one, didn't hurt sales at all: Kia set three straight annual sales records in the U.S. starting in 2022, and sold more than 800,000 units for the first time in 2025.

Kia's sales success is likely partly due to a diverse lineup of vehicles that includes sedans such as the very stylish K4, SUVs like the top-selling Sportage, and several hybrid and electric options. But the automaker's vehicles are also cheap, with plenty boasting starting MSRPs under $30,000. With a range of good and affordable vehicles helping sales climb year over year, Kia's new logo, confusing as it is, might actually be a resounding success instead.