Kia India has announced dispatches of 21,300 vehicles in June 2024, which makes for a 10% year-on-year increase (June 2023: 19,391 units). While first-quarter FY2025 (April-June 2024) sales at are 60,768 units are down 10% YoY (Q1 FY2024: 61,373 units), the company’s cumulative sales for the first six months of CY2024 add up to 126,108 units, down 7% (January-June 2023: 136,108 units).
Meanwhile, the new Sonet compact SUV, equipped with plenty of features and also ADAS and launched in January 2024, has emerged as Kia India’s highest-selling model once again in June with wholesales of 9,816 units. This takes the Sonet’s cumulative sales in the first six months of 2024 to 54,532 units, thereby accounting for 43% of Kia India’s total H1 2024 dispatches of 126,137 units. The next biggest contributor was the Seltos midsize SUV (40,363 units and 32% of Kia’s H1 2024 sales) and the Carens MPV (31,534 units and 25% of H1 2024 sales).
Interestingly, data analytics reveal that the Sonet has outsold the Seltos, which is Kia India’s first model launched in August 2019, for six straight months from January 2024. The Sonet’s cumulative January-May 2024 sales at 54,532 units are 35% more than the Seltos’ 40,363 (estimated) units in the same period.
Made-in-India Kia exports drive past 250,000 milestone
Earlier this year, Kia India surpassed the 250,000 unit export milestone, news of which Autocar Professional broke on May 26, 2024. From August 2019 through to April 2024, Kia India has manufactured 1.21 million units, of which 252,830 units or 21% have been exported.
The Seltos remains its most exported product with 147,615 units and a 58% share, followed by the Sonet and the Carens. Over four-and-a-half years after Kia India began production, the company’s Anantapur plant is now one of the most critical export hubs in the global Kia network. Demand for utility vehicles and MPVs remains strong and Kia’s made-in-India products are making their presence felt in a number of countries.