Kia Motors global sales increase 24.1% in July

Kia Motors today announced that 122,230 Kia vehicles were sold globally in July, representing a 24% year-on-year increase for the month of July. Kia also noted that sales in China, Korea, General Markets, Europe and North America posted year-on-year sales growth of 114.1%, 37.5%, 37.3%, 8.4% and 6.2%, respectively, and that cumulative sales reached 839,384, an increase of 16.9% year-on-year.

In what has become almost a monthly mantra, Korea-based Kia Motors reports another record-setting month along with solid year-over-year sales gains.

(SEOUL) August 11, 2008 – Kia Motors Corporation announced today that its global sales (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) of passenger cars, recreation vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles in July 2008 recorded 122,230, representing a 24.1% year-on-year increase.

By region, Kia posted large, year-on-year sales increases in China (11,110 units, a 114.1% year-on-year increase), Korea (27,514 units, a 37.5% year-on-year increase) and general markets (22,973 units, a 37.3% year-on-year increase).  Sales increases were also significant in Europe and North America where 28,670 (8.4% year-on-year increase) and 31,963 (6.2% year-on-year increase) Kia vehicles were sold in July, respectively.

Cumulatively, through the first seven months of 2008, Kia’s global sales increased by 16.9% year-on-year and reached 839,384 units. China (90,863 units sold) and general markets (142,402 units sold) have experienced the largest gains of 42.7%, and 33.3%, respectively. Cumulative year-on-year sales increases have also been experienced in all other sales regions: Korea (18.2% gain with 181,544 units sold); Europe (12.4% gain with 216,332 units sold); and North America (3.5% gain with 208,243 units sold).

Kia Spectra5

So far in 2008, Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets has been the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets) with 124,058 units sold.   It is followed by a close group of three vehicles: the B-segment Rio at 94,340, the C-segment cee’d at 91,857 and Kia’s Sportage compact SUV at 87,547.  Meanwhile the A-segment Picanto continues to perform well with 61,498 units sold.

Kia Rio

Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President, International Business Division, said, “As we enter the second half of 2008, we continue to experience strong sales growth across all markets, and we have achieved consistently high and significant year-on-year gains in China and general markets in particular. These results represent great performance by our sales team, especially given the difficult industry environment.”

Editor’s notes:
* Global sales figures are based upon CBU export sales and sales from overseas and Korean production plants
** Includes figures from Western and Eastern European markets
***General markets includes the regions of Central and South America, Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa

Kia Motors Corporation (www.kia.com) — a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart — was founded in 1944 and is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world’s premier automotive brands. More than 1.4 million vehicles a year are produced in 14 manufacturing and assembly operations in eight countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 165 countries. Kia today has over 40,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of almost US$17 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Tennis Open and an official worldwide sponsor of the Davis Cup. Kia is an official automotive partner of FIFA — the governing body of the FIFA World Cup — as well as a EUROTOP partner of UEFA. Kia Motors Corporation’s brand slogan — “The Power to Surprise” — represents the company’s global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.

Tags: cee'd, KIA, kia motors, picanto, Rio, Spectra, Sportage