So what car brands start with K? Honestly there are, like, over 30 car brands and models that start with K, and they cover everything from $20,000 daily drivers to $3 million ish hypercars. Some are mainstream, some are “wait I thought that was a rumor”, you know how it goes.
The most recognizable active names include Kia (South Korea’s mainstream giant), Koenigsegg (Swedish hypercar legend), KTM (Austrian track-day specialist), and Karma Automotive (American luxury EV maker). And then you’ve got older, rare collector types like Kaiser Motors and Kurtis Kraft, plus the commercial heavies such as Kenworth and Kamaz that basically run on heavy-duty trucking.
Quick facts, real fast:
- Price range: you might see something like $20,000 for a Kia K5 up to $3,000,000+ with the Karlmann King, and yeah it can get wild pretty fast.
- Fastest “K” car, at least in theory: Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut, with a supposed 330+ mph top end.
- Most affordable EV: the Kia EV3, starting around $30,000-ish, nothing crazy but it’s solid.
- Rarest find, kinda niche: Kellison kit cars, there were only about 2,000 kits ever made, so it’s a real oddball situation.
Introduction
If you start looking around for cars that start with K, it turns out that this letter is pretty much one of the most varied in automotive history . It somehow keeps changing its meaning.It is not like some letters that stay stuck in one vibe. K shows up in speed-record hypercars, mass-market SUVs that sold millions, and even forgotten coachbuilders that quietly shaped entire eras.
Most online lists stop at 10–15 entries and kind of barely scratch it. They overlook truck brands, mix up Koenigsegg with Koenig-Specials, and they act like the electric shift is not even happening right now at Karma and Kia.
So this guide tries to fix that. You’ll find every active K car brand, plus defunct legends worth learning, and specific models laid out from A to Z. Also there are price-tier categories so it’s easier to navigate if you’re shopping, researching, or just casually curious. At Modern Vehicles, we map the full automotive alphabet because the best car for you might start with a letter you never really considered.
Luxury & Supercar Brands That Start With K
The luxury side of the K list is mostly built around Koenigsegg, Karma Automotive, and Karlmann King. Together they’re the extreme ends of performance, electrification, and sheer exclusivity. Prices go from around $100,000 all the way to over $3 million, depending on which “tier” of expensive you’re talking about.
Koenigsegg, that Swedish supercar mythos
Yeah, Koenigsegg got going back in 1994 , by Christian von Koenigsegg, he was 22 then.
Since then this Swedish maker, kinda reworked the idea of what road legal speed and control can look like. The Jesko Absolut is the one everyone talks about, it’s aiming for a “theoretical” top speed that goes past 330 mph and the One:1 was the first production car that hit a 1:1 power to weight ratio , 1,360 hp matched to 1,360 kg.
After that you have the Gemara (2022–present), which is Koenigsegg’s first 2+2 GT. It’s often pitched as a “mega-GT” kind of thing, and it gets a 2.0L three-cylinder engine, plus electric motors for a combined 1,700 hp. Then the CC850 (2023–present) comes in as a 20th anniversary moment, and it uses a manual automatic hybrid setup.
Also, every Koenigsegg is hand built in Ängelholm, Sweden, and the yearly output is capped at about a hundred cars across the whole lineup, so no, you can’t just walk in and grab one, like it’s a normal purchase.
- Key models: Jesko, Regera, Gemera, CC850, Agera RS, One:1
- Price range: $1,900,000 – $3,000,000+
- Category: Hypercar / Ultra-Luxury
Karma Automotive, American ultra-luxury EVs
Karma Automotive’s backstory goes through Fisker Automotive (kicked off in 2007), and Fisker later went bankrupt in 2013. Then Wanxiang Group, the Chinese auto parts giant, bought the assets and brought the brand back as Karma in 2014.
Today there’s the Revero, a luxury plug-in hybrid sedan, while the upcoming Kaveya is Karma’s all-electric play. The Kaveya tri-motor AWD version lands at 1,180 hp and 1,270 lb-ft of torque, and Karma claims 0–60 mph happens in under 3 seconds.
It uses a 120-kWh battery pack, with an estimated 250+ mile range. Plus it has this jet-fighter style active rear spoiler, which… yeah it feels pretty spot-on for their vibe.
- Key models: Revero, Kaveya, Gyesera, Invictus
- Price range: $100,000 – $250,000+
- Category: Luxury Electric / PHEV
Karlmann King, the world’s most expensive K car
The Karlmann King is this ultra luxurious, very limited SUV made by the Chinese company Karlmann Ltd. It showed up back in 2018 , and the overall look is bold and kind of angular, it feels like it is nudged by stealth aircraft styling. Each King is fully customizable.Buyers pick interior hues, seating blueprints, and the entertainment setup.
This one is put together on a Ford F-550 chassis, and the mass is over 13,000 pounds , so you’re really not dealing with anything “small” anything. Production is tightly limited, and pricing starts around $2 million, but climbs past $3 million once you get a fully equipped configuration.
- Key models: Karlmann King SUV
- Price range: $2,000,000 – $3,000,000+
- Category: Ultra-Luxury SUV
Koenig-Specials The 1,000-HP Ferrari Tuner
Quick note so nobody mixes this up: don’t confuse Koenig-Specials with Koenigsegg, not the same thing. Koenig-Specials is a German tuning house that was founded in 1977, by the former racing driver Willy König. They became kind of famous for twin turbocharging Ferrari V12s, and yeah that’s not subtle.
One standout example is how they transformed the Ferrari Testarossa into the Koenig Competition Evolution, and it could reach up to about 1,000 hp. Other notable builds include the Koenig C62, which is basically a road-legal version of the Porsche 962 Le Mans race car, plus widebody Mercedes-Benz SEC conversions.
And yes, Enzo Ferrari famously ordered that the “prancing horse” badges be removed from König’s modified cars. That detail stuck around for a reason.The brand is still active today, mostly serving the Japanese market.
- Key Models: Koenig Competition, Koenig C62, Koenig 560 SEC
- Price Range: $150,000 – $500,000+ (vintage market)
- Category: Exotic Car Tuner
Sports & Performance Car Brands Starting With K
KTM is like the standout active performance brand that starts with K, and yeah they build lightweight carbon-fiber track cars, with Audi-sourced engines, basically. Then there’s the older stuff, Kurtis Kraft (Indy 500 dominance vibes) and Keating Sportscars which was a total dream that kinda failed, even with the promise and all.
KTM Austria’s Track Weapon Manufacturer
If you know KTM you probably think of motorcycles first. But they did cars too , 2008 was the year, with the X-Bow, an ultra light open-wheel sports car created with Dallara (carbon fiber chassis) and Audi (2.0L turbo engine). The first version weighed about 1,742 lbs,and it did 0–62 mph in 3.9 seconds, kind of quick.
Now the flagship is the X-Bow GT-XR (2023–present). It runs a 2.5L inline five Audi engine, with 493 hp and 428 lb-ft of torque. There’s this jet-fighter style canopy (no doors) sort of vibe, plus a carbon monocoque around 80 kg. It then hits 0–62 mph in about 3.4 seconds. Production is capped at 100 units per year, roughly €319,200.
- Key models are X-Bow, X-Bow R, X-Bow RR, and X-Bow GT-XR … yeah those.
- Price range comes in at €54,500 – €319,200, just like that.
- Category wise it lands as a track focused sports car, more or less, not a whole lot of wiggle room.
Keating Sportscars Britain’s Failed Supercar Dream
Keating was started in 2006, by Anthony Keating, in Bolton UK. They talked a lot about supercars, the TKR and Berus, and sort of went on about 230 plus mph top speeds too, like it was a sure thing. The TKR apparently held a kind of unofficial world record for quickest production car, for a short moment.
But in reality, the company only built a few prototypes. A Berus prototype got filmed crashing into a skip at Bolton University (it became a thing people referenced a lot). Keating went bankrupt in 2021, after years of things not really landing.
- Key Models: SKR, TKR, Bolt, Berus
- Status: Defunct (2021)
- Category: Failed British Supercar Startup
Kurtis Kraft The Indy 500 Dominator
Kurtis Kraft started out with Frank Kurtis back in 1939. It was a United States race car bThey did build the Kurtis 500S and the Kurtis 500M road cars, but just in extremely small runs, so small you barely notice them. The big heritage is still mostly racing though, with Kurtis built machines taking the Indy 500 five times over that 1950s run of years.
- Key models: Kurtis 500S, Kurtis 500M, Kurtis Indy Roadster
- Status: Defunct in the 1960s
- Category: Race Car / Sports Car
Mainstream & Mass-Market K Car Brands
Kia pretty much does most of the heavy lifting in the mainstream “K” brand scene, pushing well over 3 million vehicles worldwide in 2024. And Karmann is worth a mention as well, even if it was, technically a coachbuilder, because it kind of helped shape those very common and pretty accessible sports car looks.
Kia South Korea’s Global Powerhouse
Kia started back in 1944, as Kyungsung Precision Industry, sort of doing bicycle parts and steel tubing at the same time, in a low key way. Later it was more or less tied to metalwork and that kind of metal tubing business, really.
The Brisa came in 1974, and it was built using 90% Korean-made parts, with Mazda underpinnings. Then there was a government mandated pause on passenger cars 1981–mid-1980s.
After that Kia restarted production, and somehow the U.S. market got them in 1993 too. Then the Hyundai Kia alliance formed in 1998 and since that time Kia became a pretty serious global player… well, in a practical sense.Modern standouts like the Telluride, which is a three row SUV, sort of pop out too.
Then there’s the EV6, an electric crossover, plus the EV3 which is the more affordable electric ride. You might also notice the Sportage, Sorento, Soul, EV9, K5, and Stinger , hanging around in the same conversation.
- Key Models: Telluride, Sportage, Sorento, Soul, EV6, EV9, EV3, K5, Stinger
- Price Range: $20,000 – $75,000
- Category: Mainstream / Mass Market
Karmann The Coachbuilder Behind the VW Karmann Ghia
Karmann began in 1901 as a horse carriage builder. It’s a German coachbuilder that turned into one of the biggest automotive body manufacturers in history.They built over 3.3 million vehicles , including the pretty well known VW Karmann Ghia (444,300 units, 1955–1974) plus Porsche 356 and the VW Beetle Cabriolet.
The Karmann Ghia had this kind of mixed Italian flair (done by Ghia in Turin) together with German VW Beetle mechanical bits, and honestly that combination made it rank among the most appealing, budget friendly sport cars around. Karmann stopped the vehicle assembly work in 2009 , but it kept going as a parts supplier, so it never fully disappeared.
- Key models: VW Karmann Ghia , VW Beetle Cabriolet , Porsche 356 bodies
- Status: Active (parts only , assembly ceased 2009)
- Category: Historic Coachbuilder
Commercial & Heavy-Duty Brands That Start With K
Kenworth and Kamaz are the K letter in heavy duty trucking, one is American, the other is Russian, both are basically legends in their lanes.
Kenworth 100+ Years of American Trucking
Kenworth was founded in 1923 in Seattle, Washington by Harry Kent and Edgar Worthington. The name is kind of a combo, like “Ken” + “Worth”. In 1933 they became the first American truck maker to put diesel engines as standard equipment. The same year, they also introduced the first factory sleeper cab.
Famous models like the W900 (1961–present, kinda the “owner operator’s dream”) , the K100 cabover, named for Kent, and also the aerodynamic T600 “Anteater” from 1985 kinda stick in people’s minds. As of today Kenworth is owned by PACCAR and it still keeps manufacturing facilities up in the U.S. , Canada, Mexico, and Australia.
- Key Models W900, T680, T880, K100, T600, T800
- Price Range $150,000 – $300,000+
- Category Heavy Duty truck
Kamaz Russia’s Dakar Rally Champion
Kamaz is Russia’s top truck maker, it started back in 1969 in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, and yeah the brand is also pretty well known for the Kamaz Master racing squad. They’ve won the Dakar Rally in the truck class more than 20 times, so basically it becomes the most successful Dakar truck team ever , or at least that’s what people usually say.
Their machines are built for rough, extreme conditions, like Siberian winters, and even desert heat. Kamaz keeps pushing heavy-duty trucks, passenger buses and even engines too , and honestly they still look pretty dominant across the Russian and CIS markets , day after day.
- Key models include the Kamaz 4310, the Kamaz 5490, and the Kamaz Master (Dakar) , you know the usual suspects.
- The price range sits around $80,000 – $200,000+ and can go higher depending.
- Category goes as Commercial Truck / Off-Road, mostly where the tough terrain is.
Defunct & Historic K Car Brands (Rare Finds)
These half forgotten names kinda point to some of the most fascinating stories in UK automotive history, from post war experimentation to fiberglass kit car trailblazers.
Kaiser Motors, and also that whole post WWII push, plus the Kaiser Darrin thing
Started in 1945, by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and auto executive Joseph Frazer, Kaiser Motors was one of those ambitious post war American ventures. They made the Kaiser Darrin in 1954, and it was among the earliest fiberglass bodied production sports cars, with that odd sliding pocket door setup, which always sounded more practical than it really was.
There were also other familiar-ish models like the Henry J compact, and the Kaiser Special. In 1953 the firm merged with Willys-Overland, then finally it stopped building vehicles in 1955. Still, the fiberglass know-how from Kaiser kinda lingered and helped shape later Corvette direction.
- Key Models : Kaiser Darrin , Henry J , Kaiser Special, Frazer Manhattan
- Status Defunct 1955
- Category Post-War American kinda thing
Kellison The Fiberglass Kit Car Pioneer
Founded in 1958, by a former Air Force pilot named Jim Kellison. It was a California based outfit that made fiberglass bodied kit cars, which the buyers assembled themselves. The kits started around $365 or so, and yeah they had coupes, convertibles and racers , all in there.
Kellison ended up shipping roughly 2,000 kits before they closed up in 1969. The cars were pretty popular with amateur racers and the hot-rodders crowd, because they had that Corvette-like styling, but for a much smaller asking price, and kinda cheaper.
- Key models: Kellison J-4 , J-5, J-6.
- Status: Defunct 1969.
- Category: kit car … fiberglass, kind of, yeah.
Keinath Germany’s Forgotten Roadster
A small German car manufacturer , it made limited-run roadsters back in the 1980s and 1990s, mostly built around Opel underpinnings . Keinath cars are kind of unheard of these days, because they are so rare in practice, and the total build count is generally thought to sit in the low hundreds maybe, something like that.
- Key Models: Keinath GT/C
- Status: Defunct (1990s)
- Category: German Roadster
Car Models That Start With K (Not Just Brands)
Many famous cars start with K even though their parent brands don’t. Here are the most notable:
| Model | Brand | Era | Category | Notes |
| Karmann Ghia | Volkswagen | 1955–1974 | Sports Coupe | 444,300 built; Italian design, German reliability |
| K-Car | Chrysler | 1981–1989 | Compact Platform | Saved Chrysler from bankruptcy; basis for LeBaron, Aries, Reliant |
| Kadett | Opel | 1936–1993 | Compact | One of Europe’s longest-running nameplates |
| Kadjar | Renault | 2015–2022 | Compact SUV | Replaced by the Austral |
| Kalos | Daewoo/GM | 2002–2011 | Subcompact | Rebadged as Chevy Aveo/Sonic/Sail |
| Kangoo | Renault | 1997–present | Compact Van/MPV | Electric Kangoo Z.E. available |
| Kapitan | Opel | 1938–1970 | Luxury Sedan | Six-cylinder flagship discontinued in 1970 |
| Karif | Maserati | 1988–1993 | Sports Car | Only 221 built; twin-turbo V6 |
| Kicks | Nissan | 2016–present | Subcompact SUV | Entered U.S. market in 2023 |
| Kijang | Toyota | 1976–2007 | MPV/Pickup | Southeast Asian icon; rebadged as Innova |
| Kimberley | Austin/British Leyland | 1970–1972 | Family Sedan | Upscale version of Austin 1800 |
| Kingswood | Holden/Chevrolet | 1968–1985 | Full-Size | Australian icon; separate from Chevy Kingswood |
| Kizashi | Suzuki | 2009–2016 | Midsize Sedan | Sporty but slow-selling; discontinued |
| Kluger | Toyota | 2000–present | Midsize SUV | Sold as Highlander in North America |
| Kodiak | Chevrolet | 1981–2009 | Medium Truck | Also branded as GMC Topkick |
| Koleos | Renault | 2008–present | Compact SUV | Available in select markets |
| Khamsin | Maserati | 1974–1982 | GT Coupe | Only 430 built; named after desert wind |
| Kyalami | Maserati | 1976–1983 | GT Coupe | Named after South African racetrack |
Electric Cars That Start With K: The Future
The K letter is slowly, kind of, becoming the same symbol people use for the electric vehicle revolution, driving attention in part to Karma with its supercar aspirations and Kia pushing mass-market EV progress.
Karma Kaveya 1,180 HP American EV Supercar
The Kaveya… ok so this thing is Karma’s biggest, most ambitious kinda moment, and it’s a fully electric supercar, riding on Karma’s aluminum space-frame platform, and yeah the electrical setup was co-developed with Intel. Not going to lie, it sounds kind of wild even just reading it.
The tri-motor AWD version puts out about 1,180 hp and 1,270 lb-ft torque, and it’s claimed to hit 0–60 mph in under 3 seconds. Underneath there’s a 120-kWh battery pack, and then you get the hidden wiper blades, tucked away headlights, plus an active rear spoiler that morphs from a ducktail into a full “attack-mode” wing.
- Expected Launch: Late 2026
- Price: $250,000+ (estimated)
- Range: 250+ miles
Kia’s EV Revolution: EV6, EV9, EV3
Kia says it’s aiming for 1 million EVs sold every single year by 2026. The EV6 (2022) was basically Kia’s first dedicated EV platform car, and it even won the 2022 European Car of the Year. Then the EV9 (2024) is a three-row electric SUV, and the EV3 (2025) is more about bringing Kia’s EV tech into a “cheaper” price range, like around $30,000.
Common Mistakes When Identifying K Cars
Koenigsegg vs. Koenig-Specials Don’t Mix Them Up
This one is probably the most repeated mistake when people talk about K cars. Koenigsegg is a Swedish hypercar maker, started in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg. Koenig-Specials is a German tuning house founded in 1977 by Willy König.
Koenigsegg actually builds its cars from scratch, while Koenig-Specials modifies Ferraris, Porsches, and Mercedes-Benz cars. They do share a name origin, since both connect back to “king” in German, but they’re not related, like at all, separate companies.
Is “K-Car” a Brand or a Platform?
The “K-Car” wasn’t really a brand— it was a front-wheel-drive platform from Chrysler, launched in 1981. That platform showed up under vehicles like the Dodge Aries, Plymouth Reliant, Chrysler LeBaron, and more. It was so successful it’s often credited with helping keep Chrysler afloat during the 1980s, avoiding bankruptcy basically.
FAQ Cars That Start With K
What is the most expensive car that starts with K?
The Karlmann King SUV starts around $2 million, and if you load it up, it can go past $3 million. The Koenigsegg Jesko hypercar is around $1.9 million.
What is the fastest car that starts with K?
The Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut is said to have a theoretical top speed above 330 mph, but it hasn’t been officially confirmed through real-world verification.
Is Kia the only mainstream K car brand?
Nope. Kia is just the biggest name, but you’ll also see other mainstream ones like Karmann, which is historic coachbuilding, and model lines like the Ford Kuga and Nissan Kicks.
What luxury cars start with K?
The main luxury K brands usually listed are Koenigsegg (hypercars), Karma Automotive (luxury EVs and PHEVs), and Karlmann King (ultra-luxury SUVs).
What is a Kei car?
A kei car is a Japanese category for small, lightweight cars, and it gets special tax and insurance benefits. Common kei car brands are Suzuki, Honda, and Daihatsu. It’s not exactly a brand that starts with K, but the category itself uses K.
What happened to Kaiser Motors?
Kaiser Motors merged with Willys-Overland in 1953, then it ended automotive production in 1955. Today the Kaiser Darrin is probably the best-known model, and it’s a sought-after collector item.
Are there any electric cars that start with K?
Yes. Karma Automotive makes the Revero PHEV, and it’s also preparing to launch the all-electric Kaveya supercar. Kia also offers the EV3, EV6, and EV9.
What trucks start with K?
Kenworth, which are American heavy-duty trucks founded in 1923, and Kamaz, a Russian truck brand that’s known from Dakar Rally wins. Those two are the big “K” truck names.
What is the rarest K car?
The Maserati Karif (1988–1993) is often described as among the rarest, with only 221 units produced. The Kellison kit cars are also extremely rare, with roughly 2,000 kits shipped total.
Did any K car brands fail?
Yeah. Keating Sportscars (UK, 2006–2021) went under after producing only prototypes. Kaiser Motors (1945–1955) and Kellison (1958–1969) also eventually shut down production.
Conclusion: Find Your Perfect K Car
From a $20,000 Kia K5 all the way to the $3 million Karlmann King, vehicles that start with K seem to cover basically every budget, every type of category, and a pretty wide range of ambition.
Whether you’re into Koenigsegg’s record-chasing hypercar energy, KTM’s track-ready attitude, or Kia’s electric push forward, that “K” letter ends up giving more automotive variety than almost any other.
At Modern Vehicles, we figure the best car searching really begins with learning. Check out our full A-to-Z car brand guides, compare specs side by side, and pick the vehicle that matches your life, no matter what letter it starts with.
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