November 25, 2024

• 

The Kia Sportage (Hyundai Motor Group)

Kia has set a new record by selling 3.08 million vehicles across the world last year, Korea’s second-largest automaker said Wednesday.

Kia sold 563,660 cars in Korea and 2.51 million vehicles overseas, up 4.6 percent and 6.7 percent on-year, respectively. The automaker’s previous record was 3.04 million units in 2014.

Kia’s sport utility vehicles led the company’s record year. The three bestselling models were the Sportage with 523,502 units sold, the Seltos with 344,013 units sold and the Sorento with 242,892 units sold.

The automaker said the target for this year is to sell 3.2 million vehicles through strategies of launching more affordable electric vehicles, enhancing product quality based on connectivity technology, realizing the company’s business model of purpose-built vehicles and focusing on profitability.

Kia wrote new records in some of the most important auto markets in the world -- the United States, Europe and India. The carmaker sold 823,910 units in the US, 606,788 units in Europe and 255,000 units in India last year.

“Last year, we recorded the highest annual sales performance ever through the launch of competitive new cars such as the EV9, The New Sorento, The New K5, and The New Carnival, along with increased production and supply due to the easing circumstances of semiconductor parts supply chain,” a Kia official said.

“This year, we will complete the construction of the Kia AutoLand Gwangmyeong, Hyundai Motor Group’s first EV-dedicated plant, to begin the sales of the EV3, a compact all-electric car, and strengthen our position in the global EV market."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor announced on the same day that it sold 4.21 million vehicles worldwide in 2023, up 6.9 percent on year. Korea’s biggest automaker performed well in the US market as the company had its best year there with over 800,000 units sold in 2023.

Hyundai Motor laid out the goal of selling 4.24 million vehicles this year as the carmaker pledged to expand its EV lineup, releasing new models with competitive edges and flexibly adapting to each market’s policies and demands.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)