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Kia February US sales rise 9 percent to 24.052 units
Kia sales improved 9 percent last month according to the company’s official sales release. With sales rising to 24.052, the Korean second largest automaker recorded its best February sales ever.
Sales last month were led by new Sorento and Soul crossovers. The US-produced Sorento posted sales of 8.207 units, which represnets an 11 percent increase over January 2010. During the first two months of fiscal year, Kia already sold 15.605 units of new Sorento in the US market.
Monthly sales numbers show us that the 2011 Kia Sorento is one of the hottest crossover vehicles on the market at the moment. In February, the model outsold Toyota RAV-4 to become the second best-selling vehicle in the segment. It topped the Chevrolet Equinox with 8.061 units sold and came very close to the segment-leader, the Ford Edge, with 8.694 units sold.
“In addition to being our best-selling vehicle for the second month in a row, the all-new Sorento also is bringing new, more affluent customers into our showrooms and indicates the growing interest in the Kia brand,” said B.M. Ahn, group president and CEO of KMA and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia.
“Having recently celebrated the grand opening of Kia’s first U.S.-based manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia, Sorento’’s strong performance validates the investments Kia has made in the U.S. market as more and more consumers are recognizing our commitment to quality, design, safety and technology.”
February also marks exactly one year since Kia Motors America put its funky Soul crossover on the market. Its sales have leaped from just 34 units in February last year to impressive 3.600 units sold in February 2010.
Other Kia cars that also performed well last month were Forte compact sedan (and two-door Koup) and soon-to-be-replaced Kia Optima sedan with 4.300 and 2.471 units sold, respectively. Kia also sold 1.949 units of Rio and 1.088 units of Sportage SUV. Other models such as Borrego, Sedona and Rondo achieved monthly sales below 1.000 units.
Kia February sales table:
ATTENTION ALL DEALERS:
Many of you likely have Toyota owners and potential customers coming into your store because of Toyota’s Unintended Acceleration recalls. Many may worry there’s something more than floor mats and “sticky” pedals. And you probably would like to be able to show them proof that Kia vehicles indeed have better designed Electronic Throttle Controls than Toyota. Well, here’s how, just in time for Toyota‘s new sales blitz..
First, print Dr. Gilbert’s testimony to Congress from here:
energycommerce house gov/Press_111/20100223/Gilbert.Testimony.pdf
Note I took out the hyper text protocol indicator and replaced the dots with spaces, so add those back.
Next, print out the Toyota recall procedure from here:
images thetruthaboutcars com/2010/02/Tech-Instructions-Preliminary-Posting-BIL.pdf
Don’t forget to add the http and periods back.
You’ll want to highlight in Dr. Gilbert’s statement where he said he shorted the sensor leads together without any trouble code being set, and where he said he then connected those two leads to 5V reference voltage and produced WOT acceleration with no DTC/MIL. On the recall procedure, you’ll see the system acceptable voltages on pages 8 and 9. You’ll want to point out two things: At WOT, the two sensor voltages can in fact overlap. And that full system reference voltage is a valid input and wouldn’t set a DTC. Just like Dr. Gilbert’s tests found! It looks like 5V on side 1 might set a code, but the tests indicated that’s not the case, not surprising since there’s only a 10% difference anyway.
Next, you’ll want to print the system description and specs from the Shop Manual for your car. CAUTION: not every car in the line-up has ETC.
CAUTION: I’m basing what follows on the Hyundai Azera manual. I cannot fathom that Kia’s system differs, but be sure to verify this. If anyone finds any discrepancies, PLEASE let me know.
I found it under Fuel System>Engine Control System>Accelerator Position System. The system description and specs clearly show that this system uses resistors to do two things: Choke the maximum voltage on side 1 to 4.35V, so the system can detect a short to reference. And on side two, voltage is choked to 50% of side one. So if a foreign voltage was introduced or somehow induced in the sensor leads, the ECU would know that since it’s ALWAYS looking for side one to be twice the value of side two or a code will be set!
Remember, this isn’t taking advantage of Toyota’s misfortune. This is a key safety feature that Toyota lacks, just like Active Head Restraints on some of their cars. Remember too that Toyota has avoided warranty claims for repairs on cars that have had UA and likely has avoided costs on cars that might have otherwise experienced MIL for transitory electrical events. Plus they’ve likely avoided negative survey responses on “Check Engine Light”/MIL. Whether or not this design is the root cause of Toyota’s UA claims, it’s still obvious Kia took extra caution and designed extra safety features in that Toyota didn’t.
This also proves that the “non-Toyota” vehicle Lentz said they could also do the same thing in as Gilbert had done in an Avalon wasn’t a Kia and should comfort those concerned about ETC’s in general. Good luck selling.
They can sell Double in Souls if they offered the 3 Door and Soulster.
The 3 door needs to be $11K to start at the most. $9-10K would even be better.
only 9% up?
Even honda, subaru, gm, ford… all double digit % up in last month sales.
I think wink on red light.
@Derrick G
I found some interesting data at cars.com.
According to NHTSA data, Kia and Hyundai are only manufacturer have ‘lowest’ rate of Unintended Acceleration problem manufactuer.
blogs.cars.com/.a/6a00d83451b3c669e201310f620c9b970c-800wi
blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2010/03/toyota-not-the-only-automaker-linked-to-unintended-acceleration.html
What do you want to know about the Candenza?
SO,
According to something I saw on TTAC, no HKAG car is in the top 117 models for UA, though by the time it gets to 117, the rate is barely measurable anyway.
Well Derrick at least we have bragging rights to the The Lies About Cars that Accent is the 2nd most selling subcompact in the US for 2 years, and we can also brag that Genesis is the 3rd largest sellng F-Segment premium car.
Accent is a very important car in that subcompact class in this country. The top 3 have been for a long time Accent, Versa, and Fit. Then Yaris, MINI, and Aveo round out 4th, 5th, and 6th place. Our Rio is in 7th place, and Soul in 8th place.
When is Toyota going to stop mounting the spare tire to the tailgate of that Rav4 anyway? Kia hasn’t done that since the Sportage.
Speaking of Toyota, I realized something else about them that dealers might want to know: The sensors on their pedals are all exposed, inside the pedal assembly with the return springs and friction brake. Remember how Toyota said that on the CTS pedals it was moisture causing them to stick? Well if there’s moisture in there, why are the sensors and their wiring in there all exposed? Perhaps that’s part of their problem. Regardless, if customers ask you might want to show them how on the HKAG assembly, the sensors are sealed in a separate assembly screwed to the side of the main pedal assembly. You might even want to go to a junkyard and get a pedal (all Avalons have CTS pedals, though the Denso ones still have the sensors inside the main assembly but it looks slightly more sealed) and let customers see it and then compare it to the HKAG design. Electrical components not properly sealed to cut costs is something customers can understand and see much better than any engineering debates like Toyota is now trying to engage in with Gilbert. While this may or may not be Toyota’s root problem, there’s no denying that Toyota’s design is cheap and once again was designed more to a price point than to a safety standard.
Hey guys, take break from all the serious stuff and check out 2011 Kia Sorento video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUpaU4or0O8
I’m just sad about the Rondo’s demise. Other brands are NOW manufacturing Rondo type cars and KIA drops it. Yes, I know the Sportage is taking its place but it’s just not the same.
The Sorento is taking the Rondo’s place. The Rondo and Sorento have near IDENTICAL dimensions inside and out.
And the Sorento’s are selling like Supersonic ballcaps, too. Where’s the beef?
Let me splain myself further. The 2011 Kia Sorento is a better looking vehicle than the Rondo ever was. And you’ll get the latest technology over the Rondo’s technology in it. My son and I were in Avondale, AZ, yesterday getting my ’08 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS detailed and getting a L-O-F for it. When my son say the 2011 Sorento with the two-tone cream color(it looked like a black color along the bottom of it)he said he’d roll in that any day. It did look great. The new world order Sorento looks great. And it would be a great running vehicle, too.