Some people buy these cars for status.  Others buy these cars because they offer far better handling and a far better overall driving experience.  I couldn't care less about the status of the car, but I'd rather spend 49K on a car that gives me what I want than 39K on a Ford, GM, Chrysler that has a subpar driving experience.  Furthermore, most domestic and Japanese car companies only offer sedans or SUVs, while BMW, Audi, etc offer wagons, hatchbacks (ie BMW 4series, Audi A5 SptBk), which offer virtually equivalent to SUV utility without being unnecessarily large and inefficient, while still offering a sedan-like driving experience.  KIA clearly now understands that as well.