Kia Achieves First Monthly Sales No.1 Since Entering UK Market... "A Triumph After 31 Years"

The new Kia Sportage, a sports utility vehicle (SUV) model. Photo by Kia.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Kia announced on the 9th that it recorded the number one monthly sales in the UK for the first time last month. This achievement came 31 years after entering the UK market in 1991.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Kia sold a total of 10,504 units in the UK market in January, surpassing Audi and Volkswagen to take first place in sales by manufacturer. The market share also reached an all-time high of 9.13%.

This represents a 67.50% increase compared to the same month last year. This strong sales performance was driven by Kia’s representative sport utility vehicle (SUV) models, the Sportage and Niro. The Sportage sold 3,458 units, ranking first among all models. The Niro ranked third with 2,372 units sold.

In particular, with the significant increase in demand for electric vehicles in the UK, Kia’s aggressive expansion of sales led by competitive electric vehicles such as the Niro EV and EV6 was also a key factor. Kia launched the new Sportage in the UK earlier this month and plans to continue the sales growth trend through this.

Paul Philpott, CEO of Kia UK, said, “Last month’s record sales performance was possible because of close cooperation between the corporation and dealer network to provide competitive products to customers,” adding, “Demand for Kia models has been expanding since last summer, and sales growth is expected to continue.”

In January, total UK car market sales reached 115,087 units, a 27.5% increase compared to the same month last year. Following Kia, the second-best selling manufacturer was Audi, which sold 8,567 units and recorded a market share of 7.44%. Volkswagen ranked third with 8,514 units (7.40% market share). Hyundai sold 5,624 units, an 81.48% increase compared to the same month last year, ranking ninth with a market share of 4.89%.

Meanwhile, Kia continues to receive consistent praise from major UK media outlets. Last month, the EV6 was selected as ‘Car of the Year’ at the ‘What Car Awards’ hosted by the influential UK magazine What Car.

Additionally, in a recent comparison evaluation of electric vehicles from six major brands conducted by the UK YouTube channel ‘Carwow,’ which has over 6.62 million subscribers, the EV6 was chosen as the top model, beating the Audi Q4 e-tron and BMW iX3.

Last year, the Sorento Hybrid won the Best Large Family Car award at the ‘Car Buyer’ ‘Car of the Year’ ceremony, hosted by the automotive media outlet Car Buyer.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.