Kia ora to do so and was consequently stood down, with the whole affair attracting much public interest. The Postmaster-General, Rob Talbot, convinced the Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, to overturn that prohibition. "Kia ora" has a similar meaning to the word "kia orana", found in related Polynesian languages, such as Cook Islands Māori. Kia ora Kia ora (, approximated in English as ) is a Māori language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. It means, literally, "have life" or "be well/healthy", and is translated as an informal "hi" or "hello" at the Māori Language Commission website Kōrero Māori. It might be
Kia Motors stands for "(East) Asia"), it is roughly translated as "to come out of the east." Kia was founded in December 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry, a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts, eventually producing Korea's first domestic bicycle, the Samchully, in 1951. In 1952, Kyungsung Precision Industry changed its name to Kia Industries, and later built Honda-licensed small motorcycles (starting in 1957), Mazda-licensed trucks (1962) and cars (1974). The company opened its first integrated automotive assembly plant in 1973, the Sohari Plant. Kia built the small Brisa range of cars until 1981, when production came to an end after