Kia Motors posts 41% increase in March global sales

SEOUL April 9, 2010 - Kia Motors Corporation announced today its global sales figures for passenger cars (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants), recreational vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles for March 2010, recording a total of 177,351 units sold. This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 41.0%.

In March, Kia posted impressive double digit year-on-year sales increases in all sales regions: 98.0% in China (28,792 units sold), 55.7% in general markets (35,114 units sold), 33.4% in Europe* (40,471 units sold), 26.5% in Korea (38,015 units sold) and 23.6% in North America (34,959 units sold).

Cumulatively, through the first three months of 2010, Kia's global sales increased by 46.9% year-on-year and reached 471,010 units. China experienced the highest gain of 147.8% based on sales of 90,131 units to date in 2010.

The remaining regions have all showed cumulative strong year-on-year sales increases: 56.3% in general markets (98,419 units sold), 38.5% in Europe* (90,679 units sold), 32.5% in Korea (105,231 units sold) and 13.1% in North America (86,550 units sold).

Kia's best selling model in overseas markets for the month of March was the C-segment Cerato (known as 'Forte' in some markets) with 32,283 units sold. The B-segment Sportage compact SUV and Rio compete for second with 17,029 and 16,970 units sold, respectively. The European C-segment cee'd comes in fourth with 13,916 units sold, and the Sorento mid-size CUV rounds out the top five with 13,481 units sold.

In terms of vehicle category sold overseas, Kia's recreational vehicles and passenger achieved year-on-year increases in March of 43.9% (83,256 units) and 47.3% (52,344 units), respectively.

Hyoung-Keun Lee, President of Kia Motors Corporation, said, "Our momentum generated in 2009 by ending the year as the world's fastest growing automaker is clearly being maintained in 2010 as we continue to see notable double-digit sales increases. What is equally encouraging is the regional balance of sales so far this year, particularly, with Europe, China and North America posting similar cumulative sales results of around 90,000 units each."

Editor's notes:
*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

Kia Motors Corporation (www.kia.com) a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart -- 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. Over 1.5 million vehicles a year are produced in 13 manufacturing and assembly operations in eight countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 172 countries. Kia today has over 42,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of over US$14.6 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Open and an official automotive partner of FIFA -- the governing body of the FIFA World CupT. Kia Motors Corporation's brand slogan -- "The Power to Surprise" -- represents the company's global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.