Kia Motors America's Sales Up 20 Percent in April

Kia On Pace For 11th Consecutive Year Of Record Sales

IRVINE, Calif., May 3 -- Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced monthly sales of 23,438 units for April 2004, a 20-percent increase over the same month in 2003. Kia's year-to-date sales of 82,822 were seven percent ahead of the record number achieved in 2003.

"After setting a first quarter sales record, and seeing continued strong sales through April, I'm confident 2004 will be our best year ever," said Peter M. Butterfield, Kia Motors America's president and chief executive officer. "Our Sorento SUV and Sedona minivan continue to be strong performers, and we expect the additions of the all-new Spectra and Spectra5, as well as the return of the Sportage SUV to our product lineup later this year, will add to our growing momentum."

Both the Optima midsize sedan and Sedona minivan, which set new monthly records in March, continued to be strong performers in April with sales up 52.9-percent and 30.5-percent, respectively. Sales of the Sorento mid-size SUV were up 32.5-percent, while the all-new Amanti large premium sedan set a new monthly sales record with 1,723 units.

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

                              MONTH OF APRIL             YEAR-TO-DATE

   Model                    2004         2003         2004         2003
   Optima                  4,162        2,722       17,086        8,186
   Rio                     4,773        2,877       12,700       12,158
   Sedona                  5,881        4,506       19,806       15,285
   Spectra/Sephia          3,427        5,913       11,839       24,590
   Sportage                   10          911           44        5,067
   Sorento                 3,462        2,613       16,060       11,902
   Amanti                  1,723          N/A        5,287          N/A

   Total                  23,438       19,542       82,822       77,188