Kia Motors Corporation announced today that it has continued to gain market share in general markets, China, Korea and North America posting March sales growth of 19.9%, 10.4%, 6.1% and 0.9%, respectively.

By region, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in general markets (22,546 units sold, a 19.9% year-on-year increase), China (14,540 units, a 10.4% year-on-year increase), Korea (30,043 units sold, a 6.1% year-on-year increase), and North America (28,279 units sold, a 0.9% year-on-year increase).

Sales in the Middle East & Africa remained particularly strong in March with 14,192 units sold, representing a 70% year-on-year increase.

Cumulatively through the first three months of 2009, Kia’s global sales increased in general markets, Korea and North America. General markets experienced the largest gain, selling 62,957 units to date representing a 20.1% increase, while the Korean and North American markets showed cumulative year-on-year sales increases of 6.7% (79,406 units sold) and 1.5% (79,494 units sold). 

So far in 2009, Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets has been the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets) and its replacement model Forte (known as ‘all-new Cerato’ in some markets) with 48,760 units sold.  The Sportage compact SUV and the B-segment Rio compete closely for second place with 31,590 and 31,586 units sold, respectively. The C-segment cee’d and A-segment Picanto complete the top five with 26,602 and 20,555 units sold, respectively.  

In terms of vehicle category sold overseas, Kia’s recreational vehicles achieved an increase of 8.5% year-on-year, selling 35,569 units in March.  

Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President and COO of the International Business Division, Kia Motors Corporation, said, “Although the first quarter of the year has presented challenges for the automotive industry, Kia continued to see strong growth throughout multiple markets. We will continue to prudently monitor our activity, but remain confident that we are well positioned with our new Soul urban crossover and next-generation Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ in some markets) now on sale in many markets.”