Kia Motors posts growth in general markets, Korea, China and North America in February

MANILA, Philippines - Kia Motors Corporation announced recently that it has continued to gain market share in general markets, Korea, China and North America posting sales growth of 24.9 percent, 13.5 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

By region, Kia posted large year-on-year sales increases in general markets (21,336 units sold, a 24.9 percent year-on-year increase) and Korea (27,308 units sold, a 13.5 percent year-on-year increase). Meanwhile, sales of Kia vehicles continued to grow in China and North America at 11,126 units (a 3.3 percent year-on-year increase) and 24,294 units (a 0.5 percent year-on-year increase), respectively.

Sales in the Middle East and Africa were particularly strong in February with 13,922 units sold, representing an 83.9 percent year-on-year increase.

Cumulatively through the first two months of 2009, Kia’s global sales increased in general markets, Korea and North America. General markets experienced the largest gain, selling 40,411 units to date representing a 20.2 percent increase, while the Korean and North American markets have shown cumulative year-on-year sales growth of 7.1 percent (49,363 units sold) and 1.8 percent (48,215 units sold, respectively.

So far in 2009, Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets has been the C-segment Cerato (known as Spectra in some markets) with 29,128 units sold. It is followed by a group of t wo vehicles: the B-segment Rio with 20,034 units sold and the Sportage compact SUV with 20,024 units sold. The C-segment cee’d and A-segment Picanto round out the top five selling models with 13,898 and 11,839 units sold, respectively.

In terms of vehicle category sold overseas, Kia’s recreational vehicles achieved an increase of 8.5 percent year-on-year, selling 29,752 units in February.

Hyoung-Keun Lee, senior executive vice president and COO of the International Business Division, Kia Motors Corporation, said, “Despite the current economic crisis, and its impact on the automotive industry, we saw strong growth in February, particularly in the general markets. We are encouraged by these figures and are confident that we are well positioned with our new Soul urban crossover and next-generation Cerato (known as Forte in some markets) becoming fully available later this year.”