Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 automaker, said Tuesday its sales in the
United States topped the 50,000-unit mark in March, reaching a new monthly sales
milestone.
Kia Motors America (KMA), the U.S. subsidiary of Kia
Motors, said the company sold 57,505 vehicles in the U.S. last month, surpassing
the mark for the first time since its entry into the market in 1994.
The previous monthly sales record was set in May last year, when 48,212 units
were sold in the world's second-largest automobile market.
The record
shipment in March was led by the increasing popularity of the Optima mid-sized
sedan. KMA sold 15,008 Optima sedans last month, a whopping 117.8 percent
increase from a year earlier.
Sales of the Soul compact, which entered
the market in 2009, reached 13,607 in March, up 35.7 percent from the previous
year. Shipments of the Sorento sport utility vehicle and the fuel-efficient Rio
sub-compact were also strong, KMA said.
Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors'
larger affiliate, said it sold 69,728 vehicles in the U.S. market in March, up
12.7 percent from a year earlier.
South Korea's top automaker Hyundai
Motor and Kia Motors are the flagships of Hyundai Motor Group, the world's
sixth-largest carmaker.
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