Kia Motors America Announces October 2003 Sales

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 3, 2003 -- Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced monthly sales of 15,181 units for October 2003. Year-to-date sales for KMA totaled 202,723 units.

"During the month of October, we experienced a lack of available inventory as our parent company worked diligently to make up for production lost during the recent labor negotiations in Korea," said Peter M. Butterfield, Kia Motors America's president and chief executive officer. "We expect to see inventories begin to recover in November as well as appropriate vehicle allocations by region. We are looking forward to the official launch of our new Amanti large premium sedan in December, and the world premier of our next generation Spectra four-door sedan at the North American International Auto Show in January."

Several Kia models have continued to produce healthy year-to-date sales increases. The Optima midsize sedan is up 16 percent and the popular Sedona minivan is up 28 percent versus last year.

Kia Motors America is the U.S. sales, marketing and service arm of Kia Motors Corp. in Seoul, South Korea.

                        MONTH OF OCTOBER                YEAR-TO-DATE

   Model               2003         2002              2003        2002

   Optima              2,193       1,194             27,496      23,726
   Rio                 4,622       4,430             34,570      44,825
   Sedona              2,961       2,214             43,336      33,954
   Spectra             2,701       4,642             57,815      64,121
   Sportage               29       3,316              5,565      34,948
   Sorento             2,675       2,164             33,941       2,405

   Total              15,181      17,960            202,723     203,979