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Kia K5/Optima sales surpass sales of Hyundai Sonata
New Kia K5/Optima sedan sales hit 10,673 units last month. The K5 dethrones Sonata as the top-selling car in Korea!
According to latest new car sales data from South Korea, the newly unveiled Kia K5 mid-size sedan (known as Kia Optima overseas) has outsold the long-time sales leader Hyundai Sonata in the domestic market.
It has happened for the first time that Kia’s mid-size sedan has topped the monthly sales chart in Korea.
Last month, Kia dealers sold 10.673 units of the K5 sedan, while Hyundai sold 9.957 Sonatas. From its very first day on the market, the K5 has been in high demand.
The K5 sold 3.552 units within the first five days of its debut on May 25 with the number of sales contracts rising to an average of 831 vehicles per day.
Market watchers are calling the K5’s rise above the Sonata an industry landmark.
The Sonata was the invincible leader of the mid-sized sedan category for 11 years, and it continually ruled the monthly sales chart except for July 2003 when it was overtaken by the Renault Samsung SM5 due to a Hyundai labor strike.
KIA Soul beats Accent to be number 1 HKAG Subcompact in America. KIA Soul Dethrones Accent’s long time Second place spot against Nissan Versa in American Subcompact sales. Little brother KIA wins prominence. I like it!!
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The Details over at my site.
HKAG’s long term plan is for Kia to become the better selling brand. The Sorento sells better than the Santa Fe. The Sportage will sell better than the Tucson, and the Optima is already selling better than the Sonata in Korea. It will probably sell better in the US, too. The new Forte will probably sell better than the Elantra. The new Forte is coming. That new Rio is going to sell better than the new Accent, too.
I don’t trust a Toyota as far as I could throw one. This new Optima could easily outsell the Camry if there is another recall. It is armageddon over at Toyota. Honda is just plain f-ed. When you continue to design ugly appliances for vehicles, and put an outrageous price on them, what do you think is going to happen. GM has put all of their bets on the Volt, and market analysts are saying that there isn’t going to be a mass market for them, considering the price and inconvenience of plugging in. Chrysler is nothing more then Fiat and MB’s little brother. Chrysler really only encourages current Chrysler owners to buy their vehicles, and they are the only ones who do. Ford had better watch it. They are getting caught up in their own success, and it is going to collapse in on them. Hyundai and Kia are flying under the media’s radar. When the market comes out of recession, Hyundai and Kia will have shed their “piece of crap” image, and sales will explode. I swear, Koreans are the smartest people in the world.
The fact is that the South Koreans are the smartest students in the world. As of about 10 years ago. Have to study this more intently to get the latest but the article I read said the best math and science students are South Korean students. They graduate and some of them go to work at Hyundai and Kia. I know what you mean Greg, it just hit me like a ton of frickin’ bricks one day while driving my ’99 Kia Sephia, these guys really know what they’re doing. With the excellent Yokohama radials and Konig Diva wheels the car was just a blast to drive. Handled like a little race car and it had the Getrag 5-speed stick shift. I went online to see if SK had some Kia Sephia clubs going on and of course they sure did!! These two car companies are loved my many in SK-I don’t know about all-but many, many South Koreans adore them. I can really see my wife and I getting another Kia some day.
I really would like to have those all new k5 & k7 in EU…..
Announcement: Honda’s nasty Little Trick= Honda Fit Hybrid to be priced a $16,780 in Japan. With a US tax Credit of $3400 you figure the math on how how would it cost here.
Hyundai, Kia’s owner, has already started working on a secret plan to make sure that Kia doesn’t surpass its parent: they are hiring a bunch of Honda designers to make sure that they muck up Kia’s styling when model refreshes come around in a few years.
The Sonata is not supposed to outsell the Optima. Kia is supposed to be the volume brand. Hyundai is supposed to be the premium brand with superior customer service.
The RWD Kia Koup…I…I mean Coupe was discussed as being needed to further differentiate Kia from “parent” Hyundai when it comes out. I believe it was the July ’10 R&T magazine at the Elko, NV, Wal*Mart I read that in yesterday. These magazine writers are just waiting for it to hit the net and magazines. They want it ta hit! These are ever-exciting times for Kia Motors. Guys, somewhere I have a printout of an about 2000 circa Kia Rio in bright racing orange that had the coolest bodykit on it. I e-mailed Kia in 2000 and told them I would buy one if they just built it. ICE is fine, sheesh, they’re not gonna Hybrid the new world order Rio are they? They are? Anyway, I’ve scoured old Kia files all over the net and in my papers and can’t find it. If I found it on paper I have a scanner on my 4-in-1 HP printer, so I would scan that pup and make a file for it to store, then I’d go over probably to Edmunds.com to paste it in there and talk about it. I loved it. Orange steering wheel, interior orange and black, chrome tailpipe, 5-speed Getrag shifting kit. I’d love to see a tricked out production Rio come out. The older Rio style and the slightly updated Rio aren’t bad ta start with. They look good on the road.
Well Iam worried about Geo Political Events more than anything else going wrong. I think this company can and MUST do anything it puts its mind to. My Mom for example used to be a Super Korean car hater, but after she saw how I kept beating up on that Accent she doesnt find Korean cars to be half bad at all anymore. She says geo Political events would stop her from buying a Korean Car now, and it does make people think twice about Korean cars. Toyota is building Corolla in Dirt Butt Ass Poor Mississippi. Maybe we should consider an NA Accent/Rio/Soul plant in another dirt poor area in the US, and if it has to be in the Inner city then fine? It would be socially responsible for the company to do such a thing too.
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Bryan,
-Accent is getting a Hybrid and I am quite to make it viable and to spread the costs they will have let KIA have the Powertrain for both Rio and Soul. Veloster will NOT get a Hybrid however.
Scooped: Accent Planet Exclusive-Next Gen KIA Picanto and Hyundai i10 will Grow Up and become real cars to US Standards that have more than 100 HP!! All with 1.0 GDI. Details at and Pics my site.
Bryan, there needs to be more Compact and Subcompact Hybrids on the maret. I think that’s the best way to go for Hybrids. You can make them affordable and premium this way. Did you see the MINI Clubman S hybrid testing? Yes Its time for Hyundai KIA to provide affordable small Hybrids, and I refsse to buy another Accent/Rio until its a Hybrid. (Folds Arms) Ill take that back, Id consider buying a Veloster if it was badged as Accent GT
What I think Kia should do is offer a hybrid powertrain as standard across the line-up, then price them so that they would be the same price as they are right now. Has any company made a GDI turbo hybrid? HKAG should have an optional GDI turbo on ALL vehicles.