Kia sets all-time Q3 sales record with about 850,000 vehicles globally

Kia posted its best-ever third-quarter sales globally this year, moving about 850,000 vehicles. A dip in domestic sales was more than offset by strong overseas demand.

The automaker sold a total of 281,984 units worldwide in September — 45,705 domestically, 235,457 overseas and 822 special-purpose vehicles — the company disclosed Thursday. The figure represents a 5.1 percent increase from the same month last year.

Overseas sales were the standout, rising 7.5 percent year-on-year to 235,457 units in September. Domestic sales, by contrast, fell 6.7 percent to 45,705 units. Compared with August, domestic sales climbed 13.7 percent and overseas sales gained 4.4 percent.

Cumulative sales for the first nine months of the year reached about 2.48 million units, up 4.4 percent from the same period last year. Domestic sales grew 5.4 percent to 436,301 units, while overseas sales rose 4.2 percent to about 2.04 million units.

The Sportage led global sales, with 51,884 units sold in September. The Seltos followed with 37,950 units, and the Sorento came in third at 21,115 units.

In the domestic market, the Sorento topped the rankings with 6,957 units sold. Passenger car sales totaled 11,961 units, with the Ray at 4,230, the K5 at 2,916 and the Morning at 2,522.

Recreational vehicle sales reached 29,403 units, led by the Sportage at 5,497, the Seltos at 5,422 and the Carnival at 5,286. Commercial vehicle sales came to 4,341 units, including 2,347 Bongo IIIs and 1,888 units of the purpose-built vehicle PV5.

Overseas, the Sportage again led with 46,387 units, followed by the Seltos at 32,528 and the K4 at 15,659. Special-purpose vehicle sales totaled 822 units — 258 domestic and 564 overseas.

On a quarterly basis, Kia set a new record. The company sold a total of 846,764 units in the third quarter — 140,522 domestically, 703,494 overseas and 2,748 special-purpose vehicles — the highest third-quarter figure since Kia began selling cars in 1962.

The result surpassed the previous Q3 record of 785,137 units set last year by about 7.9 percent. The gain was driven primarily by overseas sales, which rose from 646,118 units to 703,494 units.

The Sportage again ranked first in Q3 model sales, with 150,346 units sold over the three months. The Seltos came second at 109,256 units, followed by the Sorento at 56,928.

"Through sales strategies tailored to differentiated electrification vehicle demand by region overseas, we have maintained strong sales momentum and achieved record third-quarter sales," a Kia official said. "In the fourth quarter, we will continue to build on that momentum, focusing on hybrid vehicles in the United States and electric vehicles in Europe."