Kia Motors records 3.3% global sales growth in January

SEOUL--(Korea Newswire)--Kia Motors Corporation announced today its global sales figures (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) for passenger cars, recreational vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles for January 2012, recording a total of 185,284 units sold. This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 3.3%.

In January, Kia posted strong double digit year-on-year sales increases in two of its major sales regions – 33.2% in Europe* (35,852 units sold) and 27.4% in North America (39,291 units sold). It was the highest total global January sales ever for Kia.

Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets for the month of January was the B-segment Rio (known as ‘K2’ in China) with 32,288 units sold. The C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ in some markets) was the second best seller with 25,489 units delivered, while the Sportage compact CUV, D-segment Optima sedan and Sorento mid-size CUV followed with 24,647, 15,459 and 14,473 units sold, respectively.

Tae-Hyun (Thomas) Oh, Senior Executive Vice President & COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said, “This was our highest global January sales ever and we are particularly pleased to see Europe perform so well. We expect our momentum there to continue due to the successful December launch of all-new Optima, which was highly anticipated by European customers, and our upcoming EURO 2012 sponsorship.”

Editor’s notes:

* ‘General markets’ include the regions of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia (excluding China and Korea), the Pacific, Middle East and Africa. ‘Europe’ includes both Western and Eastern European markets.

Related video, stills and other press material are available at Kia Motors’ Multimedia Library (http://kia.synapticdigital.com), powered by Synaptic Digital. Content is available in HD, broadcast, and streaming-quality formats, including PAL and NTSC, and can be downloaded utilizing the industry’s fastest download technology.

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. Over 2.5 million Kia vehicles a year are produced in 15 manufacturing and assembly operations in ten countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 172 countries. Kia today has over 47,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of US$39 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Open and an official automotive partner of FIFA -- the governing body of the FIFA World Cup™. Kia Motors Corporation’s brand slogan -- “The Power to Surprise” -- represents the company's global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.

Website: http://www.kia.co.kr

This is a news release distributed by Korea Newswire on behalf of this company.