Kia Motors posts 11.5% increase in March global sales

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2008-04-11 15:28

Seoul--(뉴스와이어)--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 March 2008 recorded 124,767 units, representing a 11.5% year-on-year increase.

By region, Kia posted large year-on-year sales increases in general markets (18,796 units sold, a 25.0% year-on-year increase) and Korea (28,316 units sold, a 23.1% year-on-year increase). Sales of Kia vehicles in China, Europe and North America were 13,174 units (16.1% year-on-year increase), 36,453 units (13.5% year-on-year increase) and 28,028 (7.8 % year-on year decrease), respectively.

Cumulatively through the first quarter of 2008, Kia’s global sales increased by 12.3% year-on-year and reached 330,887 units. General markets have experienced the largest gain, selling 52,399 units to date, representing a 31.9% increase, while the China and Europe markets have showed cumulative year-on-year sales growth of 24.7% (39,498 units sold) and 17.2% (89,205 units sold), respectively. The Korea market has also shown a cumulative year-on-year sales increase of 10.4% (74,411 units sold).

So far in 2008, Kia’s best selling model in export markets has been the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets) with 49,274 units sold. It is followed by a tight group of three vehicles: the Sportage compact SUV with 35,294 units; C-segment cee’d with 35,214 units; and B-segment Rio with 33,610 units. The A-segment Picanto comes in fifth with 27,947 units sold. Noteworthy is that the cee’d, sold only in Europe, and designed and produced for Europe by Europeans, charts as the second most sold car in Kia’s overseas product portfolio this month for the first time.

By vehicle category sold overseas, Kia’s passenger cars sold 60,887 units in February, an increase of 12.0% year-on-year. 32,771 RV units were also sold in February for a 4.2% increase year-on-year.

Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President and COO, International Business Division of Kia Motors Corporation, said, “Sales volume was particular strong in most markets this month for Kia vehicles. Taken together we sold more cars this month than we did any month last year. We continue to grow in Europe and emerging general markets, and the indicative trend from the first quarter is a positive sign for our dealers in most markets throughout the world.”

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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 33,000 employees 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.

웹사이트: http://www.kiamotors.com