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Monthly sales for February total more than 18,500 units
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Picanto and Sorento retain top places in Kia’s best-sellers chart
European Kia dealers delivered a total of 18,552 vehicles in February, as sales set a new all-time high record for the month, climbing 4.5% higher than the 17,752 sales the brand achieved for that period in 2005.
For the second month of 2006, Kia’s top selling models were the Picanto small car (with 5,428 sales), heading the award-winning Sorento SUV (3,260 sales), the compact 4x4 Sportage (2,806 sales) and the New Rio B-segment hatchback, performing strongly.
“Sales results for the first two months of 2006, more than 37,000 units, are in line with our objectives and confirm that more new ‘conquest’ customers are switching to the Kia brand. I’m delighted to observe that this conversion process is accelerating with each new model we introduce ,” commented Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President Kia Motors Europe. “In this landmark year for Kia, New Magentis reaches showrooms this month, New Carnival and new generation Sorento were both highly praised on their debuts at the Geneva Show last week and we have two more major model introductions during the Autumn before we become a European car manufacturer when production in Slovakia starts during December. So 2006 is already shaping up to be a great year for Kia in Europe.”
Export sales for Kia Motors rise 4.3 % in February
Kia Motors Corporation recorded overseas sales of 59,640 units during February, a 4.3% rise over the year-ago month. Worldwide, the top seller for Kia over the first two months of 2006 was the award-winning Sorento SUV (17,766 sales), ahead of the compact Sportage 4x4 (16,566 sales), the Picanto A-segment model (16,029 sales) and the B-segment New Rio, in fourth place with 15,622 sales.
“This year promises to be another period of solid growth for the Kia brand in all markets around the world,” commented Mr Jung-Moon Park , Senior Executive Vice-President and COO of Kia Motors Corporation. “Having recently received an enthusiastic reception in Europe for the New Carnival MPV, with a short wheelbase, and the new generation Sorento SUV, which were both unveiled at the Geneva Show, Kia is targeting to sell more than 1,225,000 vehicles globally in 2006.”
Kia Motors Corporation (www.kiamotors.com or www.kia.com) -- one of the fastest growing automakers in the world -- was founded in 1944 and is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world’s premier automotive brands. Kia’s 12 manufacturing and assembly operations in 7 countries produce more than 1.1 million vehicles a year that are sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 160 countries. Kia today has over 32,500 employees and annual revenues of over $15 billion . It is the major sponsor of the Australian Tennis Open and an official worldwide sponsor of the Davis Cup. From 2007 to 2014, Kia will be an official automotive partner of FIFA -- the governing body of the FIFA World Cup. Kia Motors Corporation’s brand slogan -- “The Power to Surprise” -- represents the company’s global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.
