UK SALES APRIL - KIA - The brand remained strong although it still dropped, but by less than half the market average.

• Kia delivers 6,291 vehicles in April
• Kia in Top Ten brands for month and year
• Market down almost 20 per cent but Kia fall held to 8 per cent 

In a market down by almost 20 per cent during April demand from Kia customers allowed the brand to stay strong – seeing only an eight per cent fall compared to 2016.

With the brand’s popular Picanto model – its second biggest seller – in run-out ahead of the launch of the all-new model on 1 May, demand for Sportage, cee’d and the all-new Rio allowed Kia to deliver 6,291 vehicles to customers during the month – making Kia the ninth best-selling brand in the market.

And with sales for the year reaching 35,996 Kia also held ninth place in the best-selling list to the end of April. Although the April market fell dramatically Kia is still 16 per cent ahead of the 2016 performance for the year to date.

Paul Philpott, President and Chief Executive of Kia Motors (UK) Limited commented: “The vehicle excise duty changes coming into effect at the start of April was always going to have an effect on the month and because our ever-popular Picanto model was in run-out ahead of the all new model launched just this week, we expected our performance to drop off – but I am very pleased that demand for our other excellent vehicles remained strong amongst both retail and business customers.

“Initial response to the all-new Picanto is extremely positive and exciting and I expect our performance to come back strongly in the months ahead – especially as we have two other all-new models to launch this year. I was pleased to see that our year-to-date performance, up 16 per cent, is well ahead of the overall market’s one per cent improvement.

“And I am absolutely delighted that we are ninth in the best seller lists for both April and the year-to-date,” he commented.

UK SALES MARCH - Kia - The Best ever single month tops off a brilliant First quarter.

• 18,801 new vehicles delivered to Kia customers in March
• First quarter up almost 23 per cent to 29,705
• Sportage continues to be firm favourite

A best-ever single month sales performance in March saw Kia deliver 18,801 new cars to customers in the UK and reach a record first quarter total of 29,705 – better than the entire year’s sales in 2007!

Retail customers powered Kia’s March 16 per cent improvement over 2016, with more than 10,000 private buyers turning to the brand. And Sportage’s distinctive looks and excellent packaging kept it at the top of Kia’s best-sellers’ list with 8,220 delivered during the month.

Picanto, Rio, cee’d and Venga completed the top five in March this year – exactly the same order of popularity as last March. That list was repeated in the first quarter of 2017 with Sportage accounting for more than 12,600 sales compared to 10,785 by the end of March last year.

Paul Philpott, President and Chief Executive of Kia Motors (UK) limited commented: “We are delighted that so many UK motorists have put their trust in our company, our products and our dealers. It shows the remarkable growth of the Kia brand that in three months we can deliver more new cars than we did in the whole of 2007 – when we launched our still industry-leading Seven Year Warranty across the product range.

“It is clear the UK motoring public have taken Sportage to their hearts, but we are also pleased that the all-new Rio has got off to a good start – I expect we shall see its sales numbers grow this year. And with the all-new Picanto just around the corner plus two completely new to the range products still to come this year, I am confident we shall set another new record for the whole of 2017,” he added.