Kia’s global sales down in January

Kia Motors reported a sales decline in the first month of 2009. It’s global sales of passenger cars, recreation vehicles and light trucks in January 92,311 units, representing a 10% fall compared to January 2008.

By model, Kia’s best selling vehicle in global markets in January was the “soon to be replaced” C-segment Spectra with 15,898 units sold. It was followed by Sportage compact SUV and the B-segment Rio with 10,429 and 10,144 units sold, respectively. Meanwhile, the C-segment cee’d came in fourth place with 6,741 units and the A-segment Picanto rounds out the group with 5,234 units.

By region, North America, General markets and South Korea experienced sales gains in January. General markets experienced the largest gain with 19,075 units (+15.4%), while 23,921 units were sold in North America (+ 3.3%) and 22,056 were sold in Korea (+0.1%).

Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President and COO of the International Business Division, said, “Kia Motors continues to scrupulously monitor and manage its business during these challenging economic times.

This month, North America experienced steady growth, while other automakers reported substantial losses. With our new Soul urban crossover and next-generation Cerato (to be known as Forte in the USA) becoming fully available in many markets early this year, we are confident that Kia Motors will continue to grow throughout 2009.”