Hyundai Motor affiliate Kia has now sold over 500,000 cars in the UK since launching with Mazda-based models here in 1991.
Sales for 2013 to date were up 10.6% year on year to a record 30,441 vehicles.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Local chief Paul Philpott said: “We predict that we will achieve 1m registrations in the UK before the end of the decade and our long-term ambition is to become a ‘Top Five’ volume car brand in the UK. Considering that our year to date sales equal our entire annual performance from just five years ago I am confident we will get there.”
The Pride – a rebadged Mazda 121 – was the first Kia launched in the UK and 1,786 units were registered that year. The 100,000 mark was reached with a Rio hatchback in 1994 and a Sportage crossover was the brand’s 250,000th sale in 2008.
The top three best-selling models in the UK in 2013 are the Sportage, Picanto and cee’d.
