Kia posts record US sales for 2nd straight month, driven by SUVs

Kia Corp., an automaking affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group, on Monday posted its best-ever monthly US auto sales for a second straight month in April, driven by sport utility vehicles as well as two Kia nameplates – K5 and Forte.

According to Kia Motors America, the Korean automaker sold a total of 70,177 cars in the US, up 121.3% from the year-earlier period. The latest sales figures break the previous monthly record monthly high of 66,523 units set just a month earlier.

The mid-size K5 sedan and the compact Forte sedan (known as K3 in Korea) enjoyed their strongest month ever in April, with 9,626 units and 12,504 units, respectively.

The strong overall April performance was also led by SUVs. Kia sold 10,040 units of the mid-size Sorento SUV and 8,195 units of the larger Telluride SUVs.

“After a record-breaking first-quarter performance, Kia continued to outpace the industry in April as even more customers discovered our world-class and award-winning design and quality,” said Sean Yoon, president and CEO of Kia’s American operations.

“Given the showroom traffic our dealers are reporting ahead of the summer opening in the US, we are confident our strong performance will continue through this year.”

KIA CLOSES IN ON HYUNDAI MOTOR IN SUV SALES

With its growing proportion of SUVs over the past few years, Kia’s US sales reached 92% that of its sister firm Hyundai Motor Co.’s sales in 2020, up from 82% in 2015.

Hyundai’s April US sales data will come out on Tuesday.

The two automaking units of the Hyundai Motor Group posted their best-ever March and first-quarter sales in the US, where the Korean companies are working to refine their profiles as makers of premium models.

Write to Il-Gue Kim at Black0419@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.