● Records 64% Y-o-Y growth with 21,021 unit sales in October 2020 as Sonet remains to be the preferred choice for Indian customers with 11,721 units sold during the month
● Reaches the 1.5 Lakhs sales milestone in the country within just 14 months of starting sales
● Kia motors is now India’s connected car leader with over 75,000 connected cars on road
New Delhi, November 02, 2020: Kia Motors India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kia Motors Corporation, registered its highest-ever domestic sales since its entry into the Indian market with 21,021 units sold in October 2020. The latest game changer in the market, Kia Sonet, remains to be one of the preferred choices amongst Indian customers which found 11,721 happy homes last month. Cherishing the arrival of the festive season in India, the Seltos too posted steady growth with sales of 8,900 units. On the back of robust sales in October, Kia Motors India now celebrates over 1.5 lakhs Kia vehicles on Indian road and has maintained its position as the fourth largest vehicle manufacturer in India.
The overall sales were notable for Kia Motors India, especially with the onset of the festive season where the demand is expected to go even higher. The Sonet has successfully established itself as one of the best compact SUVs in the market, and currently enjoys a high demand with an average of two vehicles sold every three minutes., This, followed by a healthy demand for Seltos and Carnival indicates an improved customer sentiment in the domestic market. With demand expected to grow even further during the festive season, Kia Motors India has further streamlined its supplies to meet this strong demand and trying to maintain a minimum waiting period for its customers.
On the successful run of Kia Motors in India, Mr. Kookhyun Shim, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Kia Motors India said, “We are witnessing a strong surge in customer demand from across the markets, and we’re confident that it will grow even further with the onset of the festive season. It is good to see the numbers rebounding with the market slowly coming back on track as the customers are going ahead with their long-held purchases. We are extremely happy with the way we have performed in the past couple of months and are confident of continuing this success beyond Diwali as well. Keeping this in mind, we are now considering to start the third shift in our plant to meet the rapidly growing demand for our products in India.”
Kia has been able to break the clutter and offer Indian consumers what was missing in the current landscape and the response to Kia products in India has been very encouraging throughout. The recent launch of Sonet along with the positive sentiment of customers and the upcoming festive season are encouraging signs for the brand. Kia Motors will continue to build a robust product pipeline, addressing the changing needs of Indian consumers.
About Kia Motors India (KMI)
In April 2017, Kia Motors signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, to build a new manufacturing facility in Anantapur District and completed and commenced the mass production in August 2019. The manufacturing facility has an annual production capacity of approximately 300,000 units. Kia Motors India has launched three vehicles for Indian market – The Seltos, The Carnival and The Sonet and has made a mark in India with product and service quality and reliability. The Seltos, establishing itself as a trusted product by brand Kia, has crossed the 100,000 sales milestone in just one year of its sales period. Kia Motors is globally known to make quality vehicles which address the gaps in the automotive market and Seltos too have won many accolades in India. Tasting initial success, a third product of Kia Motors India the Sonet has secured 6523 bookings on the first day of commencement of pre-bookings. In April 2020, Kia’s two global products Telluride and Soul EV have bagged world’s most prestigious automotive awards – The World Car of the Year and The Urban Car of the Year respectively at the WCOTY 2020. Kia Motors India has a widespread network of 265 customer touchpoints, in 160 cities across Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities in India.
About Kia Motors Corporation
Kia Motors (www.kia.com) is a maker of world-class quality vehicles for the young-at-heart. Founded in 1944, Kia today sells around 3 million vehicles a year in over 190 countries, with 52,000 employees worldwide, annual revenues of over KRW 58 trillion (about US$50 billion) and manufacturing facilities in six countries. Kia is spearheading the transition to electric vehicles and pursuing mobility services to help tackle urban challenges around the world. The company’s brand slogan – “The Power to Surprise” – represents Kia’s global commitment to surprise the world with exciting, inspiring experiences that go beyond expectations.
