SEOUL — Kia Corp., standing as South Korea’s second-largest automaker in terms of sales, has announced a 7.7 percent increase in its vehicle sales for October compared to the same month in the previous year, attributing the growth to the strong demand for its SUV models.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the company’s statement on Wednesday, Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., witnessed its vehicle sales rise to 257,709 units in October, up from 239,371 units a year ago. This growth is largely credited to the heightened sales of the Sportage, Sorento, and Seltos SUV models. In terms of domestic sales, there was a 0.4 percent increase, resulting in 42,960 units sold last month compared to 42,781 units in the same period of the previous year. On the international front, the company saw a 9.2 percent increase in overseas sales, with 214,139 units sold, up from 196,173 units.
The monthly sales report includes results for special-purpose vehicle sales as well. In the cumulative assessment from January to October, Kia’s sales ascended by 8.3 percent, totaling 2,611,938 autos, a rise from the 2,410,909 units sold in the corresponding period of the previous year. Breaking it down further, domestic sales increased by 7.3 percent to 468,835 units, and overseas sales saw an 8.5 percent increase to 2,138,508 units.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, Kia has set a sales goal of 3.2 million units, with the overseas sales target fixed at 2.6 million units.