Kia sells 239,887 units globally in August, India has 9% share, 33% of Seltos demand

Kia has recorded total global sales of 239,887 units in August 2022, a 10.4 percent increase year-on-year (August 2021: 217,226). Kia India is now a driving force for the Korean carmaker, along with the APAC, South and Central America regions.

With domestic market sales of 22,322 units last month, Kia India has contributed 9.3% to global sales. This is a two-percentage-point increase to Kia’s global sales over a year – in August 2021, Kia India accounted for 16,750 units or 7.71% of global sales of 217,226 units.

Outside of Korea, Kia recorded sales of 198,483 units, up 12.6% YoY. This also means that Kia India contributed 11.24% to the company’s overseas sales.  

In line with the global trend, SUVs led the sales charge for Kia globally in August 2022, with the Sportage and Seltos being the highest-selling models. While the Sportage (which is not sold in India) recorded global sales of 39,281 units, the midsized Seltos was the second best-seller globally with 26,097 units.

Of these 39,281 Seltos SUVs sold in August, Kia India accounted for 8,652 units or 33% of Seltos global sales.  

Kia recorded sales of 41,404 units in its home market of Korea, selling around 400 more units compared to the same period last year. Also in the domestic market, the Sorento with 5,674 units led the brand’s SUV sales. This was followed by the Sportage SUV, which recorded 3,873 units.

Business outlook
In response to the global market's current challenges, Kia says it “will continue to adjust its production in line with inventory status flexibly and to minimize production disruption. Building on competitive new models such as the all-electric EV6 – named the 2022 European Car of the Year in February – Kia will create positive sales momentum and enhance profitability, while continuing to rapidly transition to a sustainable mobility solutions provider.”

Kia’s global sales in 2021 reached 2.78 million units, up 6.5% year-on-year and sales in overseas markets increased 9.1% year-on-year. In 2022, Kia is targeting global sales of 3.15 million units.

By region, Kia expects to sell 562,000 units in Korea and 2.59 million vehicles in markets outside of Korea. With 166,167 units sold in the first eight months of CY2022, Kia India has already contributed to 6.41 percent of the overseas target for this year.