Kia posts 5.7% increase in November sales

Kia Motors Corporation announced that its overseas retail sales of passenger cars and light trucks in November 2006 recorded 70,118 units, representing a 5.7% year-on-year increase.

By region, Kia posted a General Market year-on-year sales rise of 13.2% in November with 17,420 units sold. Meanwhile, sales of Kia vehicles in North America and Europe recorded 23,969 units (7.8% year-on-year increase) and 28,729 units (0.2% year-on-year increase), respectively.

In addition to this, for the first eleven months of 2006, Kia’s overseas sales have risen by 2.6% year-on-year to reach 768,510 units. Europe showed the largest gain at 4.4%, while North American sales have increased by 2.9%; figures that buck the trend of the market for this month within the industry – general sales in Europe and North America for November are down 1.1%.

So far in 2006, Kia’s best selling model in export markets has been the A-segment Picanto with 119,376 units sold, closely followed by the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets). Meanwhile, Kia’s popular SUVs have performed well, with overseas sales of the Sorento mid-size SUV and Sportage compact SUV reaching 116,040 and 96,577 units sold, respectively. The B-segment Rio has also been a steady seller with 95,707 units delivered through the first eleven months of 2006.

Jung-Moon Park, Senior Executive Vice President and COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said, “Our sales figures for November and for the first 11 months of 2006 are very positive – this continued year-on-year growth in global sales shows that we at Kia are really tuned-in to the wants and needs of consumers in the modern global market.

“In recent years we have made great efforts to improve the quality and design of our vehicles as well as the level of service we offer; our focus on these key areas will allow us, as a company, to progress and for our sales figures and market position to improve. Increasing our sales figures and market position is obviously very important for our company and with the launch of our most important product to date the cee’d five-door C-segment family car, that goes on sale in the UK in February, we are confident of achieving these goals,” he added.