Kia Corporation has reported total global sales of 238,660 units in October 2022, a 8.6% increase year-on-year. Kia India, which sold 23,323 units last month, contributed 10% to the Korean carmaker’s global sales tally.

Given the global surge of demand for SUVs, Kia’s SUV line-up led global sales during October, with the Sportage and the Seltos achieving the highest numbers. The Sportage recorded global sales of 44,475 units, followed by the Seltos with 26,918 units. The Sorento SUV followed, recording 18,130 units in October.

In India, the Seltos was Kia’s best-seller with 9,777 units which means the midsize SUV contributed 22% to global sales.

Sales outside of Korea up 7.5%, India accounts for 12%
Outside of Korea, Kia posted sales of 195,628 units, up 7.5% YoY; Kia India’s sales at 23,323 units accounted for 12% of that total. The Sportage and the Seltos SUVs continued to lead Kia’s overseas sales momentum with 39,525 and 23,768 units, respectively. Key markets including US, Asia-Pacific and India regions all recorded robust results. Kia is fifth-placed in the India market rankings in October 2022.

Korea sales rise 13.7%
Kia recorded sales of 43,032 units in Korea, up 13.7 percent year-on-year. Also in the domestic market, the Sorento recorded sales of 5,127 units to lead the brand’s passenger vehicle sales. The second highest selling SUV was the Sportage SUV, which achieved 4,950 units.

Going forward, in response to the global market's current challenges, Kia says it “will continue to adjust its production in line with inventory status and to minimise production disruption.”

Kia India's share in year-to-date sales
In the first 10 months of the year, Kia's global sales recorded 2,410,246 units, up 2.6% YoY. Kia India, which has cumulative sales of 215,538 units between January and October 2022 (see sales numbers below), accounted for 9% of Kia’s global sales, reflecting the growing importance of the Indian market.

CY2022: Kia India sales
January: 19,319
February: 18,312
March: 22,622
April: 19,019
May: 18,718
June: 24,024
July: 22,022
Aug: 22,322
Sep: 25,857
Oct: 23,323
Total: 215,538 units

With this, Kia India has crossed the 200,000 sales mark in CY2022 with two months remaining in the year, which is an 18.59% increase over total sales of 181,583 units in CY2021.

Meanwhile, in the just-announced Interbrand ranking of Best Global Brands of 2022, Kia is at No. 87 out of 100 brands, with a brand value of US$ 6,612 million (Rs 54,813 crore), up 9% over 2021.