In May, Kia posted strong sales increases in all of its overseas regions: 48.4% in North America (55,140 units sold), 28.8% in China (33,624 units sold), 19.2% in Europe (41,139 units sold), and 7.0% in general markets (39,924 units sold). Meanwhile, sales in the home market of Korea declined by 5.0% (38,012 units sold).
North America has experienced the highest gain to date in 2011 of 42.4% (226,078 units sold) while the remaining regions have all shown strong cumulative double digit sales increases.
The South Korean carmaker’s best selling model in overseas markets for the month of May was the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ in some markets) with 38,204 units sold. The Sportage compact CUV was the second best seller with 28,563 units delivered, while the Sorento mid-size CUV, B-segment Rio and Soul urban crossover vehicle followed with 18,459, 18,191 and 17,812 units sold, respectively.
“Nearing the midway point of 2011, we are encouraged to see that customers’ continued changing perceptions about the quality, styling, performance and value of Kia products in positive directions has resulted in sales growth outpacing our initial annual forecasts. We look forward to maintaining strong momentum in all of our strategic markets in the coming months, buoyed by the arrival of the next generation versions of our popular Picanto A-segment and Rio B-segment vehicles in Kia showrooms around the world,” explains Senior Executive Vice President & COO of Kia Motors Corporation, Thomas Oh.
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