Kia Motors posts 7.1% global sales growth in March

-          262,016 Kia vehicles sold globally in March for 7.1% year-on-year gain

-          March sales in China, North America, Europe and General Markets post year-on-year sales growth of 14.2%, 10.3%, 6.7% and 3.7%, respectively

-          Kia’s bestselling model in overseas markets for month of March was B-segment Rio (K2) with 46,894 units sold

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 March 2014, recording a total of 262,016 units sold.  This figure represents a 7.1% year-on-year increase.

In March, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in China, North America, Europe* and General Markets* of 14.2% (55,208 units sold); 10.3% (60,658 units sold), 6.7% (61,487 units sold) and 3.7% (45,658 units sold), respectively.

Cumulatively, through the first three months of 2014, Kia’s global sales have increased by 5.2% year-on-year to reach 687,225 units. China, North America, Europe* and General Markets have experienced cumulative gains to date in 2014 of 13.0% (163,358 units sold), 4.6% (147,156 units sold), 4.2% (141,255 units sold) and 2.9% (127,451 units sold), respectively.

Kia’s bestselling model in overseas markets for the month of March was the B-segment Rio (known as ‘K2’ in China) with 46,894 units sold. The Sportage compact CUV was the second best seller with 38,319 units delivered, while the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ or ‘K3’ in some markets), Optima D-segment sedan and Soul urban crossover followed with 35,578, 25,295 and 17,788 units sold, respectively.

Tae-Hyun (Thomas) Oh, Executive Vice President and COO of Kia Motors Corp., said, “Bolstered by the highest level of monthly exports from Korea in company history last month of 116,305 units, we are excited to end the first quarter of 2014 with a healthy rise in global sales compared to the same period of last year. And the popularity of our recently launched second generation Soul urban crossover vehicle is clearly picking up momentum, having re-entered the ranks of our top five selling overseas models in March for the first time since September 2011.”