Kia Motors global sales rise 5.9% in 2014

-       2,907,757 Kia vehicles sold globally in 2014 for 5.9% year-on-year gain

-       Full-year sales in China, North America, general markets, Korea and Europe post year-on-year growth of 17.5%, 7.0%, 2.1%, 1.6% and -0.1%, respectively

-       Subcompact Rio was top selling Kia vehicle in overseas markets in 2014

(SEOUL) January 8, 2015 -- Kia Motors Corporation announced today its 2014 full-year global sales figures (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) for passenger cars, recreational vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles, recording a total of 2,907,757 units sold. This figure represents a 5.9% cumulative year-on-year increase compared to 2013.

In 2014, Kia posted a year-on-year sale increase in China, North America, general markets* and Korea of 17.5% (678,196 units sold), 7.0% (650,241 units sold), 2.1% (524,345 units sold) and 1.6% (465,200 units sold), respectively. Meanwhile, 2014 sales in Europe* experienced a slight drop of 0.1% (589,775 units sold).

For the month of December 2014, global sales of Kia vehicles grew by 20.7% with all major regions experiencing year-on-year growth. Sales in China, North America, Korea, general markets and Europe grew by 35.9% (69,111 units sold), 34.2% (48,939 units sold), 17.1% (48,018 units sold), 12.0% (41,349 units sold) and 2.4% (44,975 units sold), respectively in December.

Kia’s bestselling model in overseas markets during 2014 was the B-segment Rio (known as ‘K2’ in China) with 491,613 units sold. The C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ or ‘K3’ in some markets) was the second best seller with 432,420 units delivered, while the Sportage compact CUV, Optima D-segment sedan and Soul urban crossover followed with 416,856, 300,685 and 194,572 units sold, respectively.