The Kia Retona is a small

mini SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

based on Kia's military jeeps. The name is a portmanteau of ''return to nature''. Developed by

Asia Motors Asia Motors Industries, doing business as, traded as Asia Motors (, ), was a South Korean car manufacturer established in 1965 and closed in 1999. From 1976 onwards, it was a subsidiary of Kia Motors. History In 1962, as one of the measures ...

, the car was initially sold as the "Asia Retona" in some markets. The Retona had been using the same platform as the first generation

Kia Sportage The Kia Sportage () is a series of automobiles manufactured by the South Korean manufacturer Kia since 1993 through five generations. Initially a compact SUV built on a body-on-frame chassis, the second-generation Sportage transitioned to a ca ...

Convertible. Its competitors included the

Lada Niva The Lada Niva Legend, formerly called the Lada Niva, VAZ-2121, VAZ-2131, and Lada 4×4 (), is a series of four-wheel drive, small (hatchback), and compact (wagon and pickup) Off-road vehicle, off-road cars designed and produced by AvtoVAZ sinc ...

Suzuki Jimny The is a series of four-wheel drive off-road vehicle, off-road Mini sport utility vehicle, mini SUVs, manufactured and marketed by Japanese automaker Suzuki since 1970. Originally belonging to the Kei car, kei class, Japan's light automobile t ...

and the

SsangYong Korando The KGM Korando, formerly SsangYong Korando () is a mini SUV or compact crossover SUV built by the South Korean automobile manufacturer SsangYong Motor Company, SsangYong from 1983 to 2006 and from 2010 onwards. The name Korando is a contraction ...

. A 2006 survey of German owners by magazine ''

Auto Bild ''Auto Bild'' is a leading German automobile magazine based in Hamburg, Germany. History and profile ''Auto Bild'' was first published on the last week of February 1986. The magazine is published by Axel Springer AG on a weekly basis. The webs ...

'' found that the Retona was "abysmally" unreliable.

References

{{Modern-auto-stub Retona Mini sport utility vehicles 2000s cars Cars introduced in 1998 All-wheel-drive vehicles