Kia Strong Sales Continue

    IRVINE, Calif., May 1 In the face of an industry slowdown,
Kia continued to record strong sales increases in April.  Its 16,060 vehicle
sales total for the month outpaced last April's total by 29 percent.  Kia's
year-to-date sales of 60,397 vehicles are up 35 percent versus the first
quarter of last year.

    Among individual models, both the Rio subcompact and Optima midsize sedans
continued their sales surge.  Rio sales totaled 4,728 for the month and Optima
sales totaled 1,795.  The top-selling Kia model in March was the Sephia
compact sedan with sales of 5,088 vehicles.

    

                                MONTH OF APRIL             YEAR-TO-DATE
    Model                     2001          2000         2001          2000

    Optima                   1,795           n/a        6,833           n/a
    Rio                      4,728           n/a       16,962           n/a
    Sephia                   5,088         6,701       17,656        25,273
    Spectra                    944           323        5,907           323
    Sportage                 3,197         4,995       12,149        17,772

    Sportage 2-Door
     Convertible               308           403          890         1,318

    Total                   16,060        12,422       60,397        44,686