South Korean automaker Kia Motors Corporation recorded a year-on-year increase in global sales of 18.5 per cent for February.

The company sold a total of 169,727 units, including passenger cars (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants), recreational vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles.

In February, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in all regions of the world: 35.6 per cent in North America (36,676 units sold), 18.6 per cent in Europe (29,644 units sold), 17.5 per cent in Korea (39,029 units sold), 15.3 per cent in general markets (37,576 units sold), and 5.4 per cent in China (26,802 units sold).

Cumulatively, through the first two months of 2011, Kia’s global sales have increased by 18.9 per cent year-on-year to reach 349,136 units.

Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets for the month of February was the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ in some markets) with 30,688 units sold.

The Sportage compact CUV and B-segment Rio follow with 22,275 and 15,851 units sold, respectively. The Sorento mid-size CUV comes in fourth with 14,460 units sold and the Soul urban crossover vehicle rounds out the top five with 12,722 units sold.

Thomas Oh, senior executive vice president & COO of Kia Motors, said: “Although the global auto market outlook for 2011 appears uncertain due to rising oil prices, we at Kia are confident that our completely redesigned and re-engineered A-segment Picanto and B-segment Rio, which premiered last week at the Geneva Motor Show, will enable us to maintain strong positive growth in all regions thanks to their distinctively stylish new designs and fuel efficient powertrains.” – TradeArabia News Service