Kia India has driven past the million-unit wholesales milestone in the domestic market. The Korean SUV and MPV manufacturer, which announced dispatches of 20,507 units n July 2024, had achieved the million milestone in June 2024 itself. The company’s cumulative sales from August 2019 through to end-June 2024 were 10,030,008 units or 3,008 units above the big number. Add July 2024 numbers and you get Kia India’s total domestic sales of 10,23,515 units (see data table below).
Whle the Seltos midsize SUV remains the best-selling UV for Kia, the Sonet compact SUV and Carens MPV are accelerating demand for the brand.
Kia India, which began retailing its manufactured-in-Anantapur models in August 2019, has taken 58 months or just two months less than six years to record a million wholesales in the country. As per SIAM’s passenger vehicle industry data, FY2023 was Kia India’s best performance for a fiscal to date, posting 44% year-on-year growth (FY2022: 186,787 units). FY2024, however, saw an 8.76% YoY decline to 245,634 units. In the first four months of the current FY2025, the SUV and MPV maker has sold a total of 81,275 units, which is just 100 units less than the 81,375 units it sold in the April-July 2023 period.
Kia India broke through the 600,000 sales mark in November 2022, 40 months after the brand launched in India. Barely five months later, in April 2023, the 700,000 domestic market sales milestone was surpassed. The run from 700,000 to a million units has taken 13 months.
Since its market entry, Kia India has expanded its dealership network to 5885 touchpoints across 265 cities in the country. The company has previously announced that its two global models – the World Car of the Year 2024 – the EV9 – and the new Carnival MPV – will be launched in India in the second half of this year. At launch, the Carnival will be brought in as a full import while local assembly will commence at a later date.
Seltos contributes 48% to Kia India sales
Kia India currently retails four products – three SUVs (Seltos, Sonet, all-electric EV6) and one MPV (Carens). There was a fifth – the Carnival MPV – which was withdrawn a couple of years ago.
The Seltos midsize SUV, Kia India’s first product launched in August 2019, remains its highest-selling product to date and with cumulative sales of 492,497 units to date, accounts for 48% of the company’s dispatches to date (end-July 2024).
The Seltos’ best year was FY2024, when it sold 100,423 units – 291 units more than in FY2023 and up0.30% – to be placed third in the all-India midsize SUV pecking order after the Hyundai Creta (162,773 units) and the Maruti Grand Vitara (121,169 units). In the first four months of FY2025, the Seltos has sold 25,123 units, up 2% YoY (April-July 2023: 24,596 units). In Kia’s sales-wise table of top contributors, the Seltos is followed by the Sonet compact SUV
Sonet outsells Seltos from January-July 2024
The Sonet SUV, launched in September 2020, has sold a total of 347,670 units, which gives it a 34% share of the company’s wholesales till end-July 2024. FY2023, with 94,096 units, was the best fiscal for the Sonet. FY2024 sales dropped 13.50% YoY to 81,384 units. However, this Kia model has received a new charge seven months ago this year.
Launched in January 2024, the feature-laden and ADAS-equipped new Sonet has quickly turned into a quick growth driver for the company. Data analytics reveal that the Sonet has outsold the Seltos for seven straight months now (se data table below). The Sonet’s cumulative January-July 2024 sales at 63,991 units are 40% more than the Seltos’ 45,691 units in the same period.
Between January and July 2024, Kia India has dispatches 63,991 units of the new Sonets, 40% more than the Seltos’ 45,691 units in the same period.
At end-July, the Sonet needed only 2,330 units to achieve cumulative sales of 350,000 units. Considering the new Sonet has averaged daily sales of 288 units between April and July, the compact SUV should achieve this new milestone in the first 10 days of August. The Sonet’s achievement is creditable, given that it is part of the highly competitive compact SUV segment which has around 11 rivals including the Tata Nexon and Punch, Maruti Brezza and Fronx, Hyundai Venue and Exter, and Mahindra XUV300.
Carens: 167,650 units sold and counting
Launched on February 15, 2022, the Carens, which is a three-row derivative of the Kia Seltos midsize SUV, is the third highest contributor to Kia India’s sales. With 167,650 units sold in 29 months, the Carens has a 16% share of the company’s sales to date.
The premium MPV’s best fiscal was FY2023 with 94,096 units, up 27%on FY2023’s 73,864 units, but saw a decline of 10% to 63,167 units in FY2024, when it was ranked fourth amongst India’s Top MPVs. In the first four months of FY2025, the Carens has sold 34,609 units, up 30% YoY (April-July 2023: 26,523 units). This makes for average monthly sales of 865 units, improving upon FY2024’s 5,263 units each month.
The updated Kia Carens, which has been snapped testing, is slated to be introduced in India only by the middle of 2025. There’s also a Carens EV on the cards, as part of Kia Global’s 15-new model plan but that’s quite some time away.
EV6 sells 1,156 units in 25 months, to be joined by EV9 this year
Kia India’s first EV for India is the EV6 introduced in June 2022 as an import and CBU. Built on Kia’s dedicated EV platform – the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) – the EV6 has an ARAI-certified range of up to 708km on a full charge. As per SIAM and Kia India data, the EV6 has sold a total of 1,156 units, comprising 430 units in FY2023, 660 units in FY2024 and 66 units between April and July 2024.
The EV6 will be joined later this year by the all-electric EV9 SUV, which will be Kia’s second EV for India. The company’s top-down strategy with its EVs in India will see the new EV9 and EV6 slotted at the premium end of the EV market, while an all-new, made-in-India mass-market EV will be introduced in 2025.
Kia India’s combined domestic and export sales cross 1.26 million units
On July 13, 2023, Kia India had rolled out its millionth made-in-India car. Since then, till end-June 2024, the company has manufactured another 63,507 units from its Anantapur plant for total cumulative production of 12,63,507 units or 1.26 million units. Along with domestic market sales of a million units, Kia India, which is a leading exporting of made-in-India vehicles, has also shipped a 258,339 units overseas till end-June 2024, having crossed the 250,000-units export milestone, news of which Autocar Professional broke on May 26, 2024. Total exports till end-July 2024 are an estimated 260,839 units.