Seoul, Oct 02 2006 (Korea Newswire)--
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. |
