Kia Sets New Sales Record In Europe, Sportage Top Seller

2015 was another great sales year for Kia Motors Europe, with 384,790 units sold. That number represents an 8.8% increase over the previous year.

Sales in Europe were particularly brisk, as they topped 200,000 units in the first half alone, a first for Kia.

It has now been 8 consecutive years of rising sales for the Korean second largest carmaker, and there were a number of Kia vehicles that contributed to the success.

Kia best-sellers in Europe

The Sportage compact SUV, a major player in European markets, continued its strong sales success. The vehicle recorded its best 12-month period since its initial release date.

Sales of the Sportage rose 8% to 105,317 units in 2015, which was the first time the model had crossed the 100,000-unit mark in its history.

The newly-launched Kia Sorento SUV also enjoyed a much better year in Europe, selling 14,183 units. That number was good enough for the best ever sales performance by the Sorento.

The small car segments are always hotly contested in Europe, and Kia performed well there, too, as they experienced some real sales growth through 2015.

The facelifted versions of the Picanto, Rio, and Venga certainly helped Kia achieve a nice little sales boost.

Picanto sales rose 5.1% to 53.717 units, while the Rio sales rose by 9.3% to 64,175.

The biggest climber of the three was the Venga, which increased sales by 11.5% to 28,489 units. All those sales numbers were the best ever for each vehicle.

New models, high hopes for 2016

Kia hopes to keep things moving in an upward direction in 2016, and they will start that by introducing their first ever dedicated hybrid model in March.

The goal for Kia is to reduce fleet emissions on the road to creating a vehicle line-up that is as environmentally friendly as possible.