Kia’s New Logo Is Making Hordes Of Very Confused Drivers Ask About ‘KN’ Cars
Photo 262001549 © Lucapbl | Dreamstime.com
Move aside, Tesla—the latest automaker to make headlines is *reads notes* KN?
If that name doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry, you’re not alone. As Twitter user @Shwinnabego has found out, about 30,000 people in the US have googled to ask what a “KN car” is… every month. That’s 360,000 people per year in the country alone.
“KN” is really Kia, which replaced its dated but completely legible logomark with a “movement”-inspired new one in January 2021. The branding is envisioned as an unbroken line and “features ‘symmetry,’ ‘rhythm’ and ‘rising’ elements,” as described in the South Korean car company’s press materials.
the new kia logo is so unreadable that at least 30k people a month search for the "KN car" ever since its debut pic.twitter.com/jRj25JoAPp
— Ashwinn (@Shwinnabego) November 17, 2022
According to The Drive, queries about the “KN car” started rolling in around March of 2021, when a new batch of Kia Stingers took to the roads with the revamped badge.
Image via Kia
The confusion isn’t restricted to the US. Carscoops cites Google Trends analytics showing that drivers in Canada, Australia, and the UK are also asking about a “KN SUV,” the “KN car brand price,” and have been curious about a “KN car brand electric.”
It seems that Google Search has become so used to this phenomenon that the Chrome browser’s address bar automatically completes lookups for “KN c” with “KN Car” and “KN Car Brand.”
In the same vein, the Kia website shows up in the results page when you search for “KN Car.”
What's the problem? pic.twitter.com/6BZbYNqq3F
— Steve Dennis (@subcide) November 19, 2022
Given how the logo is driving up interest at rapid speeds, maybe it’s secretly a brilliant one?
