Kia Sets July Sales Record; July Sales Up 58 Percent Versus July 2000

    IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 1 Kia today announced its best July
sales ever with 19,405 vehicles sold.  This represents a whopping 58-percent
increase over July 2000 and, with year-to-date sales of 121,038, the Korean
carmaker is 39 percent ahead of last year's sales pace.
    The Kia Sephia midsize sedan continues to lead the pack with July sales
totaling 4,772, while the Sportage sport-utility vehicle and Rio subcompact
sedan also continue to show strong sales numbers with 4,456 and 4,323 units
sold, respectively.

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


                             MONTH OF JULY                YEAR-TO-DATE
    Model                   2001       2000             2001       2000

    Optima                 1,772        n/a           12,925        n/a
    Rio                    4,323        638           31,182        638
    Sedona                   794        n/a            1,457        n/a
    Sephia                 4,772      5,685           32,981     43,971
    Spectra                2,882      1,298           12,958      4,211
    Sportage               4,456      4,305           26,972     35,378
    Sportage 2-Door
     Convertible             406        374            2,563      2,637

    Total                 19,405     12,300          121,038     86,835