Kia Motors posts 1.1% rise in overseas sales in June

뉴스 제공

2006-07-03 11:56

Seoul--(뉴스와이어)--Kia Motors Corporation announced today that its overseas retail sales of passenger cars and light trucks in June 2006 recorded 80,926 units, representing an 1.1% year-on-year increase.

By region, Europe posted year-on-year sales growth of 4.0% in June with 33,416 units sold. Meanwhile, sales of Kia vehicles in North America and the general market recorded 30,470 units (2.3% year-on-year increase) and 17,040 (5.7% year-on-year decrease), respectively.

Cumulatively through the first six months of 2006, Kia’s overseas sales have risen by 5.1% year-on-year to reach 423,832 units, with Europe showing the largest gain at 8.6%. Meanwhile, North America and the general market have seen sales increase by 3.0% and 2.8%, respectively, through the first half of this year.

So far in 2006, Kia’s best selling model in export markets has been the C-segment Cerato (also known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets) with 66,816 units sold. Meanwhile, the popular Sorento mid-size SUV was close behind with 63,311 units sold. Other strong sellers so far in 2006 have been the A-segment Picanto (62,756 units), B-segment Rio (51,839 units) and Sportage compact SUV (51,501 units).

Jung-Moon Park, Senior Executive Vice President and COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said, “The relatively stagnant overall sales growth of Kia vehicles in overseas markets in June can be attributed to a reduction in consumer demand for SUVs due to continued high oil prices and to the trend of strengthening incentives on the part of our major competitors in an attempt to deplete inventory of older models.”

“Nevertheless, we remain very optimistic about the second half of the year, as our six new vehicles to be introduced in 2006, including all-new models and upgrades, have yet to reach our dealer showrooms worldwide,” he added.

웹사이트: http://www.kiamotors.com