Kia Motors sets new sales record

Kia Motors sells a record number of cars in the first quarter of 2011…

Kia Motors set a new quarterly sales record in the first three months of 2011 thanks to growing demand for its vehicles in the U.S. market the company announced today.

During the Jamuary-March period, the company sold 565.355 new cars and SUVs globally (+ 20 percent from the same period last year). According to Kia, domestic sales came to 125.631 units, while exports rose to 439.724 vehicles.

The record sales are also expected to raise Kia Motors‘ global market share to over 3 percent for first time in its history. Kia’s market share has been steadily growing from 1,9 percent in 2007 to 2,1 percent in 2008, 2.6 percent in 2009 and 2.9 percent last year.

Automotive industry experts expect Kia’s global sales to grow further in the second quarter of the year when the carmaker begins increasing exports of its 2012 Rio and 2012 Soul crossover vehicle and moves the Optima production to Georgia, USA.

By country, the United States remained the largest market for Kia Motors with 104.774 vehicles sold there in the January-March period. Demand was also high in the European market and China with 101.921 and 95,451 units sold, respectively.