Kia expected to meet annual sales target for 1st time in 12 yrs: industry data

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- Kia Corp. is expected to meet its annual sales target for the first time in 12 years, boosted by the launch of new vehicles tailored to regional powertrain demands, industry data showed Sunday.

Aggregate sales of the South Korean automaker came to 2,769,954 vehicles as of end-October, up 5.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the data. The number of cars sold domestically rose 7.4 percent on-year, while those sold overseas was up 4.5 percent.

The January-October sales figure accounts for 82.7 percent of the company's 2026 sales target at 3.35 million vehicles.

Should its sales continue at the current average of over 291,000 per month during the remainder of the year, the company will meet its annual target for the first time since 2014, according to industry watchers.

Kia has repeatedly failed to meet its annual sales targets for 11 years since 2014, when it sold more than 3 million vehicles globally for the first time since the company's founding.

Its robust sales so far this year may be attributed to the rollout of new models that aligned with regional powertrain demands, the local watchers said.

Kia has released an array of new models since last year, including the midsized Tasman pickup truck and its two new all-electric vehicles: the Kia EV4 and Kia EV5.

In the third quarter alone, sales of its hybrid electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States spiked 118 percent on-year to around 69,000, helping the company secure its first double-digit market share in the U.S.

Global EV sales also rose 75.4 percent from a year earlier, with the Western Europe region accounting for around half of the total.

Kia plans to continue on what it calls a "golden cycle," with an array of rollouts of new facelifted models and full changes.

The company said in a recent meeting with institutional investors that it plans to launch a revamped midsized K5 sedan in March, as well as full-change models of its Kia Carnival multipurpose vehicle and the Sorrento SUV in 2028.

Kia expects its total sales volume to reach over 3.4 million vehicles in 2027.