Kia Motors has recorded a total of 245,238 units (including passenger cars, recreational vehicles and commercial vehicles) in global sales during March, marking a year-on-year rise of 13.4 per cent.

In March, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in all regions of the world with an exception of Kia’s home market of Korea: 29.4 per cent in North America (64,133 units sold); 19.3 per cent in Europe (54,106); 19.1 per cent in China (40,427 units sold); 8.0 per cent in general markets (44,522 units sold); and an 8.8 per cent decrease in (42,050 units sold) in Korea.

General markets include the regions of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia (excluding China and Korea), the Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

Cumulatively, through the first three months of 2012, Kia’s global sales have increased by 12.6 per cent year-on-year to reach 636,398 units. North America and Europe have experienced the highest cumulative gains to date in 2012 of 30.8 per cent (153,106 units sold) and 26.2 per cent (128,661 units sold), respectively.

Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets for the month of March was the B-segment Rio (known as ‘K2’ in China) with 42,771 units sold.

The Sportage compact CUV was the second best seller with 32,325 units delivered, while the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ in some markets), D-segment Optima sedan and Sorento mid-size CUV followed with 29,429, 24,333 and 18,437 units sold, respectively.

Tae-Hyun (Thomas) Oh, executive vice president & COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said, “We are pleased to have continued sales growth in the first quarter of 2012, especially in North America where Kia Motors America set an all-time monthly sales record last month.”

“We are confident that delivering world-class design, vastly improved quality and outstanding fuel economy in these times of rising oil prices are among several factors contributing to our strong growth in the first quarter of the year,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service