Kia Motors has reported double digit sales growth as the domestic market leapt in May thanks in part to a tax incentive introduced by the government.
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The company’s global sales of passenger cars, recreational vehicles (RVs), and commercial vehicles totalled 141,949 units, an increase of 11.5% year on year.
Year on year sales increased 51.3% in China to 20,252 units. South Korean sales rose 44% to 38,102 units and general markets were up 13% to 23,430 units.
Cumulatively through the first five months of 2009, Kia’s global sales increased by 0.5% year-on-year and reached 590,934 units.
General markets experienced the largest gain, selling 110,289 units to the end of May, a 17.0% increase. Korea and China saw cumulative year on year rises of 14.2% (146,518 units) and 13.5% (74,797 units), respectively.
So far in 2009, Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets has been the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Spectra’ or ‘Forte’ in some markets) with 95,883 units sold. The B-segment Rio was second with 60,780 units followed by the Sportage compact SUV with 58,091 units.
The Korean market, as reported elsewhere on just-auto today, had a strong May, thanks to a tax cut, which is applicable to new automobiles purchased to replace cars that are more than 10 years old.
