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Kia’s steady climb up the Australian new car ladder continued unabated with a record March sale of 2738 units.

The stellar month, up 26.5 per cent over the same month in 2011, lifts Kia into the Top 10 new car sales list for March and for the first quarter with 7004 sales, a solid 22.1 per cent improvement over the same period last year.

“It is a very pleasing result for us and shows clearly that we are well on track to make good on our target of being Australia’s fastest-growing mainstream new car importer or manufacturer,” Kia Motors Australia Chief Operating Officer, Tony Barlow, said.

“What is particularly satisfying is the spread of sales improvements across almost our entire model range. Cerato is showing strong growth _ something that the newly released limited edition Extra can only help, while the new award-winning Rio is also gaining good traction in a very competitive segment.

“The SUV segment is still strong with Sportage and Sorento sales continuing to grow and the growth in demand for the stylish Optima _ aided by the duel bonus of better supply and the super value of the Si model _ has been incredible with a breathtaking 244.6 per cent growth over March last year.”

Following the introduction the 3- and 4-door Rio to join the COTY winning 5-door, Rio sales for the month hit 751 for a first quarter total of 1966.

“That made Rio our best-selling model, but we are not the ‘Rio car company’ anymore,” Mr Barlow said. “With 601 Ceratos, 341 Sorentos, 339 Sportages, 193 Optimas and 338 Carnivals it is a very healthy outlook.”

Kia’s perpetual hero, the Grand Carnival, again dominated the people mover market with a 38.9 per cent share _ a whopping 23.4 per cent ahead of its nearest challenger.

(SEOUL) June 9, 2011 — Kia Motors Corporation announced today its global sales figures for passenger cars (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants), recreational vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles for May 2011, recording a total of 207,839 units sold.  This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 18.7%.

In May, Kia posted strong year-on-year 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), while sales in the home market of Korea declined by 5.0% (38,012 units sold).

Cumulatively, through the first five months of 2011, Kia’s global sales have increased by 20.4% year-on-year to reach 988,011 units. 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 year-on-year sales increases: 17.6% in China (169,691 units sold), 15.9% in general markets (202,389 units sold), 15.5% in Europe (183,708 units sold) and 12.2% in Korea (206,145 units sold).

Kia’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.

Senior Executive Vice President & COO of Kia Motors Corporation, Thomas Oh, said, “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.”

The multi-award winning Kia Sportage has added another accolade to its growing Honour Roll by winning the OzRoamer 4WD & SUV Guide’s award for Best Small AWD SUV.

“The Kia Sportage Platinum has both the design elements of form and function brilliantly executed,” OzRoamer Editor Rob Fraser said. “It just shows how far Kia has come.”

After extensive testing the Sportage scored maximum points for Performance, Practicality, Fit for Purpose and Value for Money. The stylish little SUV dropped only a single point in the categories of Comfort and Behind The Wheel feel.

Judge Anthony Hood described the Sportage as “the outstanding choice in this price segment” while fellow judge Stephen Lawson said: “That combination of powerful yet economical 2.0L diesel and 6-speed automatic is hard to fault.”

In assessing the Sportage, Mr Fraser paid tribute to the work Kia has done in localising the suspension for optimised performance on Australian roads while finding a pleasing combination of ride comfort and SUV ability.

Kia Motors Australia Chief Operating Officer, Tony Barlow, said the recognition of the Sportage’s range of attributes was particularly pleasing.

“Our customers and those who review and comment on cars for a living have been telling us how much they like Sportage since it was launched in the middle of last year,” Mr Barlow said.

“It is always pleasing to have the work you have done as a company recognised in open forum. This latest award is another example of that recognition.”

OzRoamer 4WD and SUV Guide is a bi-annual magazine published as part of the Auto Alliance Group. Mr Fraser said the aim of the publication is to review both 4WDs and SUVs in a manner that helps the reader to understand the concept of “fit for purpose”, a key criteria in the judging process.

Kia Motors Australia has punched in a record monthly market share as the world’s fastest-growing manufacturer continues its month-on-month sales growth in a contacting Australian new car market.

Kia’s April market share of 2.71 per cent is the highest the company has recorded since the formation of the KMAu organisation in 2006.

“That is a wonderful result for Kia in what is, and is likely to remain, a difficult market,” KMAu Chief Operating Officer Tony Barlow said. “It is not only pleasing that we were able to maintain growth in a  new car market that is down 8.8 per cent on the same month last year, but the growth was across almost every model in the range.

“There is no doubt the rest of the year will have its own challenges, but with an all-new Rio on the horizon and the promise of a slight freeing-up of supply for the second half of the year it augers well for Kia.”

Cerato was one of the stars of the month with demand for the new hatch pushing sales up more than 48 per cent year-to-date while buyers have also started to rediscover the Rondo compact people mover with a steady 22.7 per cent rise in year-to-date sales.

Kia’s Carnival, the perennial market leader in the large people mover segment, made it business as usual with a 41 per cent share of the market and a healthy 35.4 per cent year-to-date growth.

Other members of the Kia garage to punch above the market rate were Sorento (up 11.9 per cent), Sportage (up 9.3 per cent) and Soul (7.4 per cent increase).

Kia’s latest style hero, the mid-size Optima, continued with demand outstripping supply as has been the case since the car was launched to rave reviews in January.

“Increasingly we are seeing evidence of the purchase of Kia vehicles becoming desire driven rather than simply price driven,” Mr Barlow said. “That has been the case with Sportage, Sorento and Optima in particular _ and with the arrival of the all-new Rio in the second half of the year it is a trend we believe will only gather momentum.”

Kia Motors Australia finished 2010 just how it started the year: another strong month of sales growth across the passenger and SUV segments.

kia motors

During 2010 Kia sold 23848 vehicles, an increase of 22.9% compared to 2009 and more than double the Australian new car market increase of 10.5%.

“Kia passenger sales were up 2373 units or some 15% compared to 2009 while in the competitive SUV segment, our sales were up a very pleasing 63.1% which was well ahead of the segment growth of 25%,” said Kia Motors Australia COO, Mr Tony Barlow.

“In 2011 that trend will continue as new efficient engines are incorporated into sleeker Schreyer-designed Kia vehicles. Our local product development team will also continue to optimise all new Kia vehicles to ensure they meet the high standard expected by the discerning Australian driver.”

In the passenger segment, the introduction of the 5-door Cerato to the Kia family provided a healthy sales rush. December saw 328 Ceratos retailed, 62% more than December 2009. Total sales for the year were up by 33.4%.

Kia Carnival continued its domination of people movers under $40,000 with 277 December sales providing it with 30.9% market share in the category.

In the SUV segment a successful run-out campaign and then the arrival of the award-winning all-new Sportage saw the compact SUV’s figures increase by 60.8% compared to 2009 sales results.

In terms of a year-on-year increase in sales the accolades go to Kia Sorento which showed a 66.6% improvement throughout 2010.

The roll out of new and exciting vehicles continues for Kia throughout 2011 with its first launch, the all-new Optima, to take place at the Australian Tennis Open later this month.

With its sleek appearance, a brand new direct injection petrol engine and a long list of factory fitted extras the new Optima will appear on showroom floors towards the end of January.

“With the determination of Kia to produce ever more stylish and exciting cars we are confident that the positive change in customer perception of Kia as a brand will continue,” KMAu Presdent and CEO Mr M.K. Kim said.

“While Kia will never desert our promise of outstanding value, more and more we believe people will consider Kia as a purchase of desire rather than necessity.”