Luxury cars drive Kia back to black!

As reported, Kia posted a nice increase in earnings for second quarter of the year, ending June 30th. Net income in the last three months rose 36 percent to $67 million compared with $45 million a year earlier.

So what is the main reason for Kia to be in black again, after four quarters of making loss?
Kia sold 289,334 vehicles in the April to June period, 1.4 percent fewer than a year earlier. Domestic sales declined 2.1 percent while exports slid 1.2 percent. Kia’s cost-to-revenue ratio was unchanged at 85.7 percent in the first half, even as overall revenue fell. The automaker said it cut manufacturing costs by about 800 million dollars so far this year.

Regarding the sales, their facelifted Opirus (named Amanti in US market), which is Kia’s most expensive car doubled sales in its home market. Number of luxury Opirus cars sold in S.Korea surged to 5,788 during the second quarter, compared with 2,924 a year earlier. And the carmaker’s average selling price in Korea rose 6.5 percent in the first half, helped by demand for more expensive Opirus sedans and Sorento SUVs, Kia said.

With Kia launching some very interesting new SUVs in the near future (HM and Soul), we hope this trend of making good money at Kia continues!