Kia Motors Posts 34.6% increase in October Global Sales

SEOUL - November 12, 2009: Kia Motors Corporation announced yesterday its global sales figures for passenger cars (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants), recreational vehicles (RVs), and commercial vehicles for October 2009, recording a total of 148,583 units sold. This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 34.6%.

By region, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in China (24,896 units sold, a 119.3% year-on-year increase), North America (26,093 units sold, a 41.7% year-on-year increase), general markets (29,621 units sold, a 31.7% year-on-year increase), Europe (31,956 units, a 30.1% year-on-year increase) and Korea (39,017 units, a 7.2% year-on-year increase).

Cumulatively, through the first ten months of 2009, Kia's global sales increased by 13.9% year-on-year and reached 1,336,378 units. The Chinese market experienced the highest gain with 191,765 units sold to date, representing a 54.8% increase. Korea, general markets, and North America showed cumulative year-on-year sales increases of 24.6% (327,542 units sold), 12.6% (243,530 units sold) and 8.8% (301,069 units sold), respectively.

To date in 2009, Kia's best selling model in overseas markets has been the C-segment Cerato (known as 'Spectra' or 'Forte' in some markets) with 237,402 units sold. Kia's B-segment Rio and Sportage compact SUV compete closely for second with 141,929 and 141,564 units sold, respectively. The C-segment cee'd comes in fourth with 102,963 units sold, and the Picanto rounds up the top five with 84,761 units sold.

In terms of vehicle category sold overseas, Kia's passenger and recreational vehicles achieved year-on-year increases in October of 53.2% (73,037 units) and 40.9% (36,621 units), respectively.

Hyoung-Keun Lee, President of Kia Motors Corporation, said, "We are thrilled to see that October proved to be another successful month for Kia. We will continue to build on this momentum by providing customers with vehicles for the young-at-heart, which are both stylish and fuel efficient."

*Includes figures from Western and Eastern European markets

**General markets includes the regions of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia (excluding China), the Pacific, Middle East and Africa