Kia Motors posts 1.6% increase in August overseas sales

- Kia Motors posts 1.6% increase in August overseas sales

- 67,076 Kia vehicles sold overseas in August

- Sales in North America, Europe and general market post 4.8%, 2.7% and -5.1% year-on-year growth, respectively, in August

- Cumulative overseas sales through August post 3.6% year-on-year gain

(SEOUL) September 1, 2006 -- Kia Motors Corporation announced today that its overseas retail sales of passenger cars and light trucks in August 2006 recorded 67,076 units, representing a 1.6% year-on-year increase.

By region, North America posted a year-on-year sales rise of 4.8% in August with 27,973 units sold. Meanwhile, sales of Kia vehicles in Europe and the general market recorded 22,991 units (2.7% year-on-year increase) and 16,112 (5.1% year-on-year decrease), respectively.

Cumulatively through the first eight months of 2006, Kia's overseas sales have risen by 3.6% year-on-year to reach 562,365 units, with Europe showing the largest gain at 6.6%. North American sales have increased by 3.1% while general market sales have decreased by 0.3% through the month of August.

So far in 2006, Kia's best selling model in export markets has been the C-segment Cerato (also known as 'Spectra' in some markets) with 91,963 units sold. Meanwhile, the Sorento mid-size SUV recorded the second most sales units with 84,896 vehicles delivered. The A-segment Picanto -- a highly popular seller in Europe -- was close behind with 84,465 units sold. Other strong sellers so far in 2006 have been the B-segment Rio (69,441 units) and the Sportage compact SUV (68,206 units).

Jung-Moon Park, Senior Executive Vice President and COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said, "Despite difficult conditions in the global automotive market, we continue to see steady growth in our major markets of North America and Europe, in particular Eastern Europe, which has seen sales rise by 50% so far this year."

"Leading our growth has been the rising popularity of our smaller segment models such as the C- segment Cerato (Spectra) due to continued high oil prices worldwide," he added.

Editor's notes:

1) Figures do not include domestic sales and KD (knock down) exports assembled at overseas plants including China.

2) "General market" includes the regions of Central & South America, Asia & Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.

Kia Motors Corporationwww.kiamotors.com one of the fastest growing automakers in the world -- was founded in 1944 and is Korea's oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world's premier automotive brands. Kia's 12 manufacturing and assembly operations in 7 countries produce more than 1.1 million vehicles a year that are sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 160 countries. Kia today has over 32,500 employees and annual revenues of almost $16 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Tennis Open and an official worldwide sponsor of the Davis Cup. From 2007 to 2014, Kia will be an official automotive partner of FIFA -- the governing body of the FIFA World Cup. Kia Motors Corporation's brand slogan -- "The Power to Surprise" -- represents the company's global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.