Displaying its belief in Americans' ability to overcome images, Kia revealed the pricing for its new K900 flagship sedan. With a 420-horsepower V8 and endless standard features, Kia thinks this is the car that will lure US buyers away from the likes of the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Mercedes-Benz E Class. How and why would that work? For starters, the K900's V8 is priced to rival German V6s. In addition, many of its multitude of standard features are costly options on the Autobahn cruisers.

Kia is also going all out against its Hyundai corporate twin, the Equus, which starts at $62,170 as compared to the K900's $60,400. For this hefty price, standard features include real wood trim, heated front and rear seats, panoramic sunroof, blind-spot monitor, rear cross traffic alert and lane departure warnings, adaptive LED headlights, 18-inch wheels, power and leather everything and a 17-speaker Lexicon stereo. Basically, Kia is aiming for the type of luxury driver that chooses gadgets and pampering over German tuning - a gamble which might pay off if buyers can only get over that three-letter name.