Kia Surge Maintained In April

WEYBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM – May 7, 2010: Kia has maintained its surge up the UK new car sales charts as motorists continue to swing towards the brand in ever increasing numbers.

In April the company delivered 5,228 new cars to motorists throughout the country – a massive 136 per cent increase over the same month last year – and with year-to-date sales of 25,901 Kia was showing a 140 per cent increase in sales compared to 2009.

Yaser Shabsogh, Sales Director said: “As Britain wakes up to a new political landscape it is clear that new car buyers are also voting with their wallets by turning to Kia in increasing numbers.

“The all-important retail customers are coming to Kia attracted by excellent quality products at sensible prices with the security of a manufacturer seven year warranty. It is obvious that in uncertain times car buyers want to feel confident in their purchase – and that is one promise they can be certain of with Kia,” he added.

Kia is already half-way to its record-breaking total sales figure of 50,636 in 2009 after just four months and has doubled its share of the UK market to 3.4 per cent from 1.7 per cent last year. In the retail-only market Kia is performing even better taking a 5.2 per cent share year-to-date compared to 2.2 in the same period last year.

The brand is also out-performing the rest of the market in terms of growth. With its retail year-to-date growth of 220 per cent it is comfortably ahead of other brands such as Hyundai and Skoda who have record growth rates of more than 100 per cent and others such as Volvo, Subaru, Renault, Land Rover and Nissan who have managed growth above 85 per cent.

Kia’s retail share growth has also surpassed every other brand in the UK market. Kia’s share grew by three percentage points – ahead of Hyundai and more than double the increase in share recorded by Renault, Nissan, Skoda and Land Rover.

Shabsogh commented: “These results show that car buyers really are ready for change and that they see Kia delivering that. There is no uncertainty in the way retail buyers have decided to spend their hard-earned money – even if things are not so clear-cut on the political front.

“This is one surge in public opinion that has translated into solid results and although there is likely to be some uncertainty over the next few days on the economic and political front we at Kia will be looking to keep our promise to UK car buyers and we believe they will stick with us!” he commented.