Recalls for 2004 Kia Optima

Scarlet Sappho posted a photo:

Over the past several decades, what has been noteworthy in the automotive industry is the rise of Asian automakers, often at the expense of European and American ones. The UK once had a strong domestic automotive industry, but mismanagement has made many storied British brands either a shadow of their former selves, or worse yet, extinct. This batch of six cars parked at the Edinburgh Castle car park are all Asian.

The closest vehicle to me is a Kia Optima (Kia K5 within South Korea); this particular example is an estate (station wagon) version which is well suited for Europe. Due to European preference for smaller vehicles, the Kia Optima was pretty much the largest saloon or estate I could easily find within the UK, and the only one that was sold in both the UK and the US without major differences.

Behind the Optima is a very popular SUV: the Nissan Qashqai. The Qashqai, many of which were built in Sunderland, England, is responsible for making Nissan the most popular automotive brand in the UK; it is often nicknamed "Qashqow" for contributing heavily to Nissan's profits. The Qashqai is a popular global model, though for the US market, it was renamed the Rogue Sport.

On the other row, from left to right, are: a Mazda3, a Toyota Yaris, a Kia Sportage, and an MG SUV. MG ("Morris Garage") is one of those storied British brands of the past that had gone extinct, but came back to life by having its intellectual property bought out by China; currently owned by SAIC, MG's SUVs, many of them electric, are a common sight on UK roads, even though virtually all of them are now made in China.