Kia Motors’ domestic market share exceeded 30% in 2010 for the first time in 15 years according to industry data.
The company’s domestic sales increased by 17.4% from the previous year to 485,000 vehicles, pushing up its market share by 3.6% 33.2%. In 2007 Kia’s share fell to 22.3%.
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In the past two years sales have been rising as new vehicles, designed by Peter Schreyer, have reached the market.
Kia’s rise has also been aided by the inclusion of the Morning brand into the Korean city car segment – vehicles with smaller than 1-litre engine displacement – in 2008.
With Hyundai’s market share falling from the 50.4% in 2009 to 45.2% last year, Kia is narrowing the gap between the two affiliated carmakers.
With the exception of 2000, when Kia was incorporated into Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai had maintained more than a 20 percentage point lead compared to its smaller affiliate until last year.
