Kia Motors America Announces Record June Sales and Best-Ever Quarter in Company History

Kia Motors America's (KMA) unprecedented sales growth continues as the brand reports the best quarterly sales performance in company history – 140,330 units – on the strength of all-time record June sales. The June total of 45,044 vehicles represents a 41.2-percent increase from the same period a year earlier. KMA's year-to-date sales are up 44.1 percent over 2010 thanks to solid sales performances by the U.S.-built(1) Sorento CUV, Soul urban passenger vehicle and the Optima midsize sedan. The results mark the sixth-consecutive quarterly sales record for Kia in the U.S. Kia's funky Soul remains tremendously popular and posted its best-ever sales of 11,314 units in June.

"Kia has experienced extraordinary momentum and by achieving our sixth straight quarterly sales record it is clear that our fresh lineup continues to attract new consumers to our showrooms as a result of Kia's aggressive product-led transformation," said Byung Mo Ahn, group president and CEO of KMA and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG). "Soul's best-ever monthly sales result and the launch of Kia's first hybrid in June further validates Kia's strategy of bringing the most innovative, functional, and fuel-efficient products to market. These products are designed to meet and exceed the expectations of today's consumers at a tremendous value, and with exciting new products like the significantly enhanced 2012 Soul coming this summer and two all-new Rios this fall, we are well positioned to continue our growth into the future."



[Source: Kia]

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Hyundai, Kia Upgrade U.S. Sales Target

Hyundai Motor Group (consisting of Hyundai and Kia) said yesterday that it aims to raise its U.S. auto sales in 2011 to 1.06 million units or by 18.2 percent. That figure is up from its previous target of 1.01 million vehicles. Chairman Chung Mong-koo made the announcement during his visit to the United States.

Hyundai is now targeting sales of 624,000 units in the U.S., while Kia is targeting 433,000. In 2010, both companies sold 894,496 units in the United States last year.

Hyundai and Kia are one of the fastest-growing automakers in the U.S. market. They have a combined market share of 10.1 percent as of May, up from 7.7 percent in 2010.

Hyundai will launch a new Veloster while Kia will launch its new Rio to keep the sales momentum going.

[Source: Reuters]

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Hyundai, Kia Combined for Largest Share in Mid-Size Class for May

Long considered the bread and butter of the United States new car industry, the midsize segment was until recently forbidden fruit for Korean automakers. Sure, Hyundai and Kia offered midsize cars, but it wasn’t until their latest models that either brand was taken seriously enough to sell in big numbers.

The tides have changed, with last month marking the biggest milestone yet: The platform-mate Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima combined for 30,155 units, enough to take home the largest slice of the midsize segment. That’s 22,754 Sonatas and 7,401 Optimas. Together, the Korean twins captured the largest share of the midsize sedan segment in March. And it’s likely that this trend will continue through the summer as inventory levels for Japanese-branded cars like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry continue to be low.

Last month’s best-selling midsize sedan was the Chevrolet Malibu, but with the discontinuation of the Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura, the Malibu is the only GM product to still ride on the automaker’s Epsilon architecture. Second in line was the Nissan Altima, but it too doesn’t share a platform with any other North American-market midsize sedan. That leaves the Optima and Sonata, both of which share powertrains, suspensions and platforms.

Certainly, it takes some number twisting to consider the Sonata and the Optima as the combined market share leaders for the midsize sedan segment. But that’s not stopping Korean media from jumping all over the story.

“The ranking signifies that U.S. consumers no long consider Hyundai and Kia to be low-end car brands,” an unnamed Hyundai spokesperson told the Yonhap wire service earlier today.

[Source: Yonhap News Agency]

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