Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest carmaker, said Tuesday that its cumulative domestic sales of passenger cars have exceeded 5 million units, a milestone achieved in more than four decades since its first passenger car hit showrooms here.
Kia Motors, a smaller affiliate of market leader Hyundai Motor Co., said the cumulative domestic sales of its passenger cars came to 5,012,236 units as of February this year, after launching its first passenger car model in 1970.
The carmaker saw its cumulative sales exceed 1 million in 1993 before it broke through 2 million and 3 million in 1996 and 2006. The latest milestone was achieved four years after car sales topped 4 million in 2011.
Over the past decades, Kia Motors has launched a total of 37 models including four minis, seven subcompacts, 10 compacts and nine midsize cars and six full-size vehicles.
Passenger cars accounted for 46 percent of Kia Motors’ total sales which came to 10.89 million units. Recreational and commercial vehicles took up 21.3 percent and 32.7 percent, respectively.
Its best-selling passenger car is the first generation of the Pride subcompact, an outcome of cooperation with Mazda of Japan and Ford of the U.S. More than 700,000 units of the Pride were sold between 1987 and 2000, the company said.
During a Seoul motor show in April, Kia Motors said it will unveil the second generation of the K5 midsize sedan with the plan to launch sales during the second half, which it expects would further accelerate demand for its passenger car models. (Yonhap)
