Kia has just snapped up a bunch of possible new vehicle names. CarBuzz has found trademark applications from the automaker for most of the single-digit K combinations to match the K4 and K5 that it already uses.
There’s one missing, though, which suggests that Kia’s naming department isn’t entirely going to the dogs.
More K Names Than A Kardashian Reunion
2026 Kia K4 Hatchback front 3/4 view on the highwayKia
The latest trademark filings made with the US Patent & Trademark Office cover K2, K3, K6, K7, and K8. In the last few years, Kia has changed over at least two of its US-market vehicles from proper names to numbers, and this is a sign that it is planning to change more.
The K4, on sale now, is the successor to the car that was called the Forte. The Forte compact sedan was actually named K3 in Korea, but when the model was replaced, it became the K4 everywhere in the world.
K5 is the company’s midsize sedan, formerly known as the Optima. It was called the K5 in much of the world for two generations before the name was adopted in the US.
Where Could Kia Use These New Names?
The rear view of the new Kia K8.Kia
If those are the 4 and 5, where would Kia use the other names? K3 is the name the company gave to its overseas replacement for the discontinued Rio compact car. That model has been gone from the US for years, but the name is there if it makes a return. Kia’s only other numbered vehicles are the K8, which replaced the full-size Cadenza but is not sold in the US, and the K9 luxury sedan that was sold in the US as the K900 until 2021.
Kia hasn’t given a K# name to any of its SUVs anywhere in the world, so we don’t think the Sportage will become the K6 all of a sudden. But we also can’t see Kia selling more sedans, especially not enough to use up all of those names.
It’s possible Kia just wants to stop anyone else from using the marks. US trademark law generally requires you to actually use the mark for commerce, but that requirement doesn’t start right away. Under the law, the first time you need to declare you’re using it is “between the fifth and sixth years after the registration date.”
A look at trademark records shows that instead of claiming it is using the marks, Kia could simply be applying to register them anew. The K6 mark, for example, was first registered in September 2020, and the six-year reminder was sent out in September 2025. Now that it’s at six years, Kia has filed a new application.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Kia
A big part of brand identity and trademark is trying to make sure nobody else uses your name or something that could be confused with your name. Porsche, famously, wanted to call its car the 901, but Peugeot owned all three-digit numbers with a 0 in the middle. The result was the 911. It would also be a disaster if, say, a company like Chery came along and tried to sell a “Chery Comaro” sports car in the US – a different name, but barely. For Kia, holding all of its kards is a cheap and effective way to stop that.
What do we mean by not going to the dogs? Kia didn’t re-file for the K9 trademark. It actually held that one before, but decided to use K900 in the US instead. The old trademark has long since expired.
Trademark filings do not guarantee the use of such nomenclature in future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as confirmation of a production-bound application.
Source: US Patent & Trademark Office
