New May sales record for Kia with 6,015 vehicles delivered

Record year-to-date sales of 33,589 Updated Sportage continues to lead the way

June 5, 2014: Kia continued its winning ways with UK car buyers in May, setting yet another new monthly sales record by delivering 6,015 vehicles to customers during the month – up more than seven per cent on last May’s sales of 5,604 and led by retail buyers where there was an increase of 13 per cent over 2013.

And with 33,589 vehicles already sold in 2014, compared to 30,436 in the same period last year, Kia Motors (UK) Limited continues to set new records as it outsold the brand’s full-year total from 2008 in the just the first five months!

Still leading the way for Kia is its recently updated and refreshed Sportage crossover. In May, Kia delivered 1,722 Sportage models followed by Picanto, cee’d and Rio – and those four models also represent the brand’s best-sellers for the year to date. Sportage has attracted over 9,000 customers so far in 2014. Sportage, Picanto, cee’d and Rio together account for more than 20,000 of Kia’s first five months performance, delivering a strong performance across the range rather than relying on just one or two models.

Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia Motors (UK) Ltd., commented: “It is vital for the strength of the brand and for the profitability of our dealer network that we do not simply rely on one model to deliver our growth – and these figures show that we continue to appeal to all kinds of car buyers. Kia is not a ‘one-trick-pony’ brand and with the all new Soul attracting a strong demand in its first full month I am confident we shall continue to grow in 2014.

“The market remains strong and customer confidence appears solid, which is good news for the entire industry and the UK continues to lead Europe in terms of recovery. Our performance in May and for all of this year shows that both retail and fleet business remains strong and Kia has recorded more than 10 per cent growth in both channels,” he added.