The Kia ceed is leading the company’s new car sales increase in Western Europe. Kia outperforms the overall market and continues to raise market share.
Sales increase despite slow market
Here at Summit Place Kia in Metro Detroit, we thought that you might find Kia’s European sales performance for April interesting, as it’s more good news concerning the worldwide sales of our favorite automaker:
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(SEOUL) May 8, 2009 – Outperforming the overall market, Kia’s new car sales in Western Europe achieved significant increases in April, seeing major improvements in eight countries. Sales rose by 91% (Slovakia), 51% (Austria), 42% (Germany), 32% (Poland and Czech Republic), 18% (Sweden), 14% (France) and 5% in Portugal. Total sales in April were 20,500 units, raising Kia’s market share in the region once again.
The best-selling Kia models included the cee’d family (5dr, wagon and 3dr coupe), followed by the Picanto (known as ‘Morning’ in some markets) and the Rio. In addition, the exciting new Kia Soul urban crossover is attracting thousands of new customers to the Kia brand and into dealer showrooms for the very first time.
“The Kia model line-up is proving extremely competitive in the current economic climate as buyers focus more than ever on good value, reliability, service and peace of mind guaranteed by a generous warranty,” commented Mr. Panu Vainamo, General Manager Marketing, Kia Motors Europe.
He continued, “It’s not just the striking new Soul which is demonstrating Kia’s ‘Power to Surprise.’ Customers are discovering that modern Kia products now have ‘stand-out’ design qualities and cars like the European-made Kia cee’d and Sportage, along with the Picanto and Rio, match the very best in class.”
Soul sales in Europe this year have passed the 6,500 mark and are running at a level 13% higher than Kia predicted. Marketing of the Kia Soul is now underway in USA and Australia. Media reception for the newcomer has been very positive on both continents and more than 3,200 customers picked up their new Soul car in the USA last month, alone.
The Kia Soul five-door hatchback is already a multi-award winner. In Europe, Soul was the first Korean car ever to receive the prestigious recognition of a design award from the world-renowned RedDot product design competition. The Texas Auto Writers’ Association named Soul as a ‘Best Value’ car, while the USA’s Ward’s AutoWorld voted Soul as having the ‘Grooviest Interior’. In the UK, Fast Car magazine also named Soul the ‘Best New Model for 2009.’
Editor’s notes: Standard equipment, specifications, trim levels and warranties vary depending on country.
See for yourself why Summit Place Kia sales continue to increase
There is a reason that Kia is enjoying record worldwide sales. To see for yourself, we invite you to come in and test drive the all-new Kia Soul. To do that, visit one of our two dealerships located at 2200 Elizabeth Lake Road in Waterford, just behind the Summit Place mall (248-682-6002) or in Canton at 41840 Michigan Avenue, just west of I-275 (734-397-9900), to test drive one of our great Kia cars and see why everyone at Metro Detroit’s sales leader would “Love to see ‘ya” in a Summit Place Kia!
