We've seen plenty of car brands unveil new looks over the last few years, and some have truly raised eyebrows. Last year's Jaguar rebrand seemed to be all the internet could talk about for a few days in 2024. But there's one car logo that's still drawing ire over three years after it was revealed.
Kia is one of the most recognisable car brands on the road, but as of 2021, the same can't be said for its logo. Ever since the brand dropped its new logo, which spells out the brand name in a single sawtooth line, people have been misreading it as 'KN'. Google searches for the non-existent 'KN cars' spiked in 2022, and while the furore has died down, social media users still regularly complain about the design. While Kia might be making jibes at Elon Musk right now, it clearly has its own PR issues to worry about.
The trend started at the beginning of 2021, which is when the new Kia logo was revealed in a ridiculous blaze of fireworks and drones. Basically, as soon as the new logo hit the road, the 'KN' searches started. But to be fair to Kia, the design does appear to have bedded in – whereas over 30,000 people per month were searching KN cars back in 2022, that figure has dropped. But confused social media posts continue to pop up daily.
For the millionth time:This logo DOES NOT read KIA.IT READS KN.WHY DID THEY DO THIS. https://t.co/2vxzcLxzblMarch 23, 2025
it just occurred to me that kia changed their logo and people don't in fact have cars called KNMarch 21, 2025
Realising that the "K-backwards-N" car logo is actually Kia from r/britishproblems
Indeed, it seems so many people have been searching 'KN car' that several official Kia dealerships have created landing pages to scoop up those clicks, titled 'What is a KN car?' "You may have heard people talking about a new KN car model," explains Houston-based Community Kia. "Questions have been asked about if it's a new manufacturer, a new model, or a new kind of vehicle entirely. The answer - none of the above. It's actually confusion with the visual appearance of Kia's new logo."
So while the Jaguar rebrand might have got everyone talking last year, the enduring confusion of the 'KN' logo means that, for our money, it still retains the dubious honour of being the most confusing car rebrand of the decade.
