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News Releases
Kia Motors posts 6.5% decrease in September overseas sales
2006-10-02
(SEOUL) October 2, 2006 -- Kia Motors Corporation announced today that its overseas retail sales of passenger cars and light trucks in September 2006 recorded 71,646 units, representing a 6.5% year-on-year decrease.
By region, North America posted a year-on-year sales rise of 6.4% in September with 27,745 units sold. Meanwhile, sales of Kia vehicles in Europe and the general market recorded 31,500 units (9.4% year-on-year decrease) and 12,401 (21.7% year-on-year decrease), respectively.
Cumulatively through the first nine months of 2006, Kia’s overseas sales have risen by 2.4% year-on-year to reach 634,040 units, with Europe showing the largest gain at 4.3%. North American sales have increased by 3.5% while general market sales have decreased by 2.6% through the month of September.
So far in 2006, Kia’s best selling model in export markets has been the C-segment Cerato (also known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets) with 102,872 units sold. Meanwhile, the Sorento mid-size SUV recorded the second most sales units with 97,091 vehicles delivered, followed closely by the A-segment Picanto -- a highly popular seller in Europe -- with 96,093 units sold. Other strong sellers so far in 2006 have been the Sportage compact SUV (77,441 units) and the B-segment Rio (77,124 units).
Jung-Moon Park, Senior Executive Vice President and COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said, “Dramatic changes to the economic landscape in the Asia-Pacific region, including free trade agreements and more pronounced oil price hikes than in other parts of the world, have dampened sales in the countries of this region. However, we have seen a steady growth in sales so far this year in North America thanks to our rapidly growing brand power in the U.S. and high marks in recent safety tests and quality studies”
“And with the highly successful world premiere of our cee’d family hatchback last week at the Paris Motor Show, we anticipate that the recent downturn in European sales will be reversed in the coming months, as European customers will be offered a highly competitive sporty vehicle that will surely contend for C-segment honors,” he added.
Editor’s notes:
1) Figures do not include domestic sales and KD (knock down) exports assembled at overseas plants including China.
2) “General market” includes the regions of Central & South America, Asia & Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.
Kia Motors Corporation (www.kiamotors.com or www.kia.com) -- one of the fastest growing automakers in the world -- was founded in 1944 and is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world’s premier automotive brands. Kia’s 14 manufacturing and assembly operations in 9 countries produce more than 1.3 million vehicles a year that are sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 160 countries. Kia today has over 32,500 employees and annual revenues of almost $16 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Tennis Open and an official worldwide sponsor of the Davis Cup. From 2007 to 2014, Kia will be 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.
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