Kia Motors posts 21.3% global sales growth in February

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 February 2012, recording a total of 205,876 units sold. This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 21.3%.

In February, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in all regions of the world – 41.8% in China (38,007 units sold); 35.5% in North America (49,682 units sold); 30.6% in Europe* (38,703); 5.0% in general markets (39,472 units sold)*; and 2.5% in Kia’s home market of Korea (40,012 units sold).

Cumulatively, through the first two months of 2012, Kia’s global sales have increased by 12% year-on-year to reach 391,160 units. North America and Europe have experienced the highest cumulative gains to date in 2012 of 31.8% (88,973 units sold) and 31.8% (74,555 units sold), respectively.

Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets for the month of February was the B-segment Rio (known as ‘K2’ in China) with 37,146 units sold. The C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ in some markets) was the second best seller with 26,615 units delivered, while the Sportage compact CUV, D-segment Optima sedan and Sorento mid-size CUV followed with 25,011, 18,444 and 15,947 units sold, respectively.

Tae-Hyun (Thomas) Oh, Senior Executive Vice President & COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said, “We have posted extremely positive growth across the board, especially in our most strategic regions – China, North America and Europe. Speaking of Europe, the positive initial reactions to the world premiere of the all-new cee’d this week at the Geneva Motor Show are a promising indicator of the growing momentum for the Kia brand in the region.”

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.