Kia’s global sales cross 50 million units

Kia has announced that it has sold a cumulative 50,121,112 units in the global market, including 14,245,81 units in Korea and 35,879,531 units overseas until May last year.

The Korean carmaker’s global cumulative sales record of exceeding 50 million units is the first achievement in 59 years since the launch of Korea’s first three-wheeled vehicle, the K-360, in 1962.

Kia achieved global sales of 10 million units in 2003, followed by 20 million units in 2010, 30 million units in 2014, and 40 million units in 2017, reaching the 50 million mark in four years. The company’s annual global sales exceeded 2 million units for the first time in 2010, and since then, Kia has recorded an average global sales of over 2.7 million units annually.

Exports and overseas markets account for 70% sales
Exports and overseas local sales account for more than 70% of the total sales, driving the brand’s growth, and in the domestic market, it has achieved annual sales of more than 500,000 units for six consecutive years since 2015.

In Korea, Kia’s representative steady sellers, the Sorento and Carnival, are steadily selling more than 6,000 units every month this year. In addition, Kia’s first exclusive electric vehicle EV6 is expected to break the record for sales of 552,400 units in the domestic market last year, showing the popularity of eco-friendly cars as well, with over 30,000 advance reservations.

In the overseas market, RV models such as the Sorento and Carnival led the sales, representing the Sportage, which surpassed 6 million in global cumulative sales for the first time in Kia.

SUV sales in overseas markets such as Telluride and Seltos are also steady. Since its launch in the United States in March 2019, the Telluride has sold more than 180,000 units, and the Seltos has sold more than 170,000 units since it was sold in the Indian market in August 2019, accounting for about 70% of Kia’s India sales.

Sportage is best-selling Kia

By model, the semi-medium SUV Sportage takes the first place in Kia’s models with sales of 6.14 million units. The Sportage sold more than 5.38 million units overseas alone.

It is followed by the Pride, which was released in 1987 and became very popular as a compact car model, with 3.92 million units, followed by the Sorento (3.7 million units), Morning (3.4 million units), and Bongo (3.2 million units).