Kia’s first 25 years in the UK

Kia

KiaDuring 25 years of trading in the UK, Kia has sold over 750,000 cars. Almost half of those sales have been achieved in the last five years and the target is to reach the one million mark by 2020.

Kia was established in South Korea in 1944 building bicycles, then motorcycles and eventually cars. In Kia’s first year in the UK market they recorded 1,800 sales, a figure that it now sells on average every two weeks across its 188 strong dealer network.

The Picanto City Car has historically been the brand’s biggest seller in the UK since its introduction in 2004 with over 152,000 sold so far and demand is now at around 16,000 sales a year.

Currently topping the Kia’s sales chart is the all-new fourth generation Sportage mid-sized crossover range which is high in demand with a 3.5-month waiting list. Steve Kitson, Corporate Communications Director for Kia in the UK said at a media event “We have more than 15,000 sold orders for the new Sportage and we expect to sell around 22,000 units at least this year.”

He added, “As for our overall sales, this year we have already sold close to 38,000 vehicles, a near 10% increase over the same period last year. Last year we sold a record 78,500 new cars in the UK and we expect to exceed our target of 87,000 registrations. Customers like our wide range of new models because of their better design, better quality, attractive pricing and seven year warranty.”  Miles Better News Agency

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