Kia’s new car sales in western Europe increased “significantly” in April, with major improvements in eight countries, the company has said.
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Sales rose by 91% in Slovakia, 51% in Austria, 42% in Germany, 32% in Poland and Czech Republic, 18% in Sweden, 14% in France and 5% in Portugal. Total sales in the region in April were 20,500 units, raising Kia’s market share in the region once again.
The best-selling models included the Ceed family, Picanto (called Morning in some markets) and the Rio (aka Pride). The new Soul urban crossover has also done well, the Korean automaker said.
“The Kia model line-up is proving extremely competitive in the current economic climate as buyers focus more than ever on good value, reliability, service and peace of mind guaranteed by a generous warranty,” said Panu Vainamo, general manager marketing, Kia Motors Europe.
Soul sales in Europe this year have passed the 6,500 mark and are running 13% higher than Kia had predicted. Marketing is now under way in the US and Australia.
In a separate statement, Kia said its had sold 128,272 vehicles globally in April.
Sales last month in China, general markets and Korea grew 39.3%, 13.1% and 5.8% year on year, respectively.
Cumulatively for the first four months of 2009, sales increased in general markets, Korea and China. General markets experienced the largest gain, selling 86,859 units to date, an 18.1% increase, while the Korean and Chinese markets showed cumulative year on year rises of 6.5% (108,416 units sold) and 3.8% (54,545 units sold).
The Middle East and Africa again saw strong sales with a 38% increase.
Hyoung-Keun Lee, senior executive vice president and COO of the international business division at Kia Motors Corporation, said: “Despite challenges within the automotive industry, Kia continued to see strong growth across multiple markets in April. These results are promising indicators for the second quarter and the rest of the year, and we are confident we will continue to see gains with the full introduction of the Soul urban crossover and the all-new Cerato [Forte in some markets].”
