India contributes 12% to Kia’s global sales in January

Kia India, which sold a record 28,634 units in January, contributed to 12.31% of Kia Corporation’s worldwide sales of 232,437 units last month.

By Ajit Dalvi

04 Feb 2023

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India contributes 12% to Kia’s global sales in January

Kia Corporation has reported total global sales of 232,437 units in January 2023, an 9% increase year on year (January 2022: 213,239 units). Kia posted strong performances in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions and India.

Kia India, which notched its best-ever annual sales of 254,556 units and 40% year-on-year growth in CY2022, is maintaining its strong market performance in CY2023. The Indian arm of the Korean carmaker recorded its highest-ever domestic monthly sales of 28,634 units in January 2023, which is a 48% YoY increase over January 2022 numbers. In the process, the company also crossed cumulative sales of 650,000 units in India since its market entry in August 2019.

Growing contribution to Kia's global sales

Kia India’s strong showing last month also translates into the company's greater contribution to global sales – its January numbers of 28,634 units constitute 12.31% of Kia’s worldwide sales last month. And, specific to overseas markets, the India market contribution increases to 14.80 percent.

In CY2022, Kia India accounted for 8.76% of Kia's global sales of 2,903,619 units (up 4.6%). This marked an increase over the 6.61% and 5.45% contribution to Kia’s global sales in 2021 and 2020 respectively (see data table below).

Sportage SUV best-seller globally
Kia’s most popular model in January was the Sportage SUV with a record 32,521 units sold, followed by the Seltos SUV at 27,075 units and the Sorento at 16,386 units. The Seltos continues to be Kia India’s best-seller and, at 10,470 units, accounted for 39% of the midsized SUV’s global sales.

In 2023, Kia is targeting global sales of 3.2 million units, with a focus on the sales of competitive new models such as the all-electric large SUV EV9. The company plans to also build on EV sales momentum through the introduction of the EV9 due for its global debut later this year.

Earlier this month, at Auto Expo 2023, Kia India showcased the EV9 concept vehicle which is built on the Hyundai Motor Group’s Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) platform which also underpins the Kia EV6 sold in India.

Kia's worldwide sales in January 2023