Kia US April 2017 Sales Figures: Forte Up, Soul Down

Kia Motors America have released the details of their sales figures for the month of April, so let’s take a closer look.

As a whole, the first quarter has been a bit of a disappointment, with the 181,000 units sold down from the 202,000 units sold during the same period last year.

While the numbers for April 2017 are down from last year, the 5% decline is better than what is being delivered overall, which may be a sign that a sales spike is on the horizon.

Kia best sellers in U.S.

Leading the way in sales in the month of April was the Kia Optima midsize sedan, which moved 10,731 units.

The second-best results were achieved by the Forte, with sales hitting 10,496 units, the best ever for this model.

Those numbers were achieved despite the fact that the Forte coupe was removed from the range, leaving the Forte sedan and Forte5 to carry the load.

The Sorento SUV slipped into third spot with sales of 9,317 units, followed closely by the ever-popular Soul, which sold 9,182 units.

While the Soul is still selling well, it is in a bit of a decline since its mid-cycle makeover.

The funky crossover routinely held the #1 sales spot for Kia, but has dipped in recent months.

There could be a good reason for this, though, which is that some of its sales may be being picked up by the new Niro hybrid model.

Speaking of the Niro, it continued its positive start by moving 2,939 units in the month of April, taking it over 7,000 units sold since the start of the year. That puts it on pace to crack 25,000 units sold in 2017.

April Kia sales by model

Sales highlights

• Rio: The Rio subcompact car posted sharp decrease in sales last month, selling only 1463 units.

• Forte: Best-ever monthly performance of the Forte car family.

• Optima: Optima midsize sedan is back on top. Kia also sold 86 units of the Optima PHEV!

• Cadenza: Cadenza sales remain at the same levels as last year.

• K900: Nothing new here! The K900 sales in free fall.

• Niro: Niro sales remain strong. Let’s hope the model continues to rise in popularity.

• Sportage: Not a bad result for the Sportage, but sales were off compared to last year.

• Sorento: More than 9,000 units sold, which is not bad, but we think there’s still room to grow.

• Sedona: This was a good month for the Sedona minivan.

• Soul: It seems like the refreshed Soul can’t climb back to the same levels as a year before. Meanwhile, 167 Soul EVs were sold in U.S. last month.

• Overal Kia US sales: 53,358 vs. 56,508 in 2016