A Breather in February... Kia Motors' Sales Volume Down 4.6% Year-on-Year

Impact of Electric Vehicle Subsidy Policy Announcement on Pending Demand

Kia The New Sorento

Kia's vehicle sales in February this year declined to around 240,000 units compared to February last year. This is attributed to an increase in people waiting for changes in domestic electric vehicle subsidy policies and a decrease in working days due to the Lunar New Year holiday.

On the 4th, Kia announced that it sold a total of 242,656 units worldwide last month, a 4.6% decrease compared to the same month last year.

Domestic sales particularly decreased, recording 44,008 units, down 12.0% from February last year. Kia explained, "The decrease in working days due to the Lunar New Year holiday in February and the late confirmation of electric vehicle subsidies were causes of the sales decline," adding, "There is also a base effect because sales increased by 26.9% year-on-year in February last year."

Sales of recreational vehicles (RVs) performed well. The Sorento sold a total of 8,671 units, an 82.7% increase compared to the same month last year. It was also the best-selling model domestically last month. The Carnival (7,989 units, +32.3%) and Sportage (6,991 units, +22.9%) also saw increased sales during the same period. However, Seltos sales decreased by 28.5% to 3,967 units.

Passenger car sales dropped 19.4% to 11,753 units. Sales of the Ray (3,972 units, -6.9%) and K8 (2,165 units, -48.1%) declined, while the K5 (2,970 units, +11.9%) and K3 (1,315 units, +28.4%) increased.

Commercial vehicles sold included 3,077 units of Bongo III and 100 buses.

Overseas sales totaled 198,348 units, down 2.8% year-on-year. The main reasons cited were a reduction in working days at domestic factories due to the Lunar New Year holiday, leading to fewer shipments, and the base effect.

By model, the Sportage was the best-selling overseas model with 40,652 units sold, followed by the Seltos (21,458 units) and K3 (18,531 units).

A Kia official stated, "Sales remain steady in advanced markets such as the United States and Europe, and since domestic electric vehicle subsidies have been confirmed, sales are expected to recover starting this month."

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