UK SALES MARCH - Kia continues to grow with higher than average percentage increases.

• 16,207 Kia’s delivered to customers in March
• 10,000 sold-orders for Sportage in first two months on sale
• Total sales of 24,162 in first quarter

Kia set a new one-month sales record in March with 16,207 cars delivered to customers across the UK including 7,388 Sportage, 2,475 Picanto and 1,809 cee’d.

The outstanding performance saw 9,111 vehicles delivered to retail customers and 7,096 to fleet and business, the total represented an increase of 7.92 per cent over the same month last year.

Remarkably the new Kia Sportage sales total of 7,388 represented 46 per cent of Kia’s total sales in only its second month in the market and the new car’s success is emphasised by an order book in the first two months in the market of 10,000 – a record for any new Kia model in the UK.

Kia’s Top Five cars in March were led by Sportage, Picanto, cee’d, Rio – 1,769 and Venga – 1,142 completing the list. The same cars fill Kia’s best five chart for the first quarter.

Kia’s first quarter sales total of 24,162 was 8.5 per cent up on the same period in 2015 and represented a market share of 3.13 per cent. Retail sales amounted to 13,489 and fleet and business sales totalled 10,673 – a split of 55.8 per cent and 44.2 per cent respectively.

Paul Philpott, President and Chief Executive commented: “The UK new car market has started strongly this year with March being one of the best-ever single month results.

“Sportage has been a phenomenal success for us since its launch with existing and new customers lining up to place their orders for this stylish and high-quality successor to our already best-selling car. It’s distinctive new look has struck a note with car-buyers and we already have a waiting list for some models – especially the high-specification versions and the new GT Line model.

“Our 188 dealers around the country have done a tremendous job in delivering a record month for the brand and it gives me every confidence that we can meet and potentially exceed our 2016 target of 84,000 sales as well as reaching our goal of becoming a 100,000 unit brand before the end of the decade,” he added.