Kia Motors reports highest retail sales in September with Sonet leading charge

PTI, Oct 1, 2020, 8:14 PM IST

New Delhi: Kia Motors India on Thursday said it has registered its highest-ever retail sales in the country last month with recently launched Sonet dominating the compact SUV segment.

The company’s retail sales last month stood at 18,676 units, over two-fold increase from 7,554 units in September 2019, driven by Sonet which made its debut on September 18, the automaker said in a statement.

The Sonet dominated the compact SUV segment and recorded sale of 9,266 units in just 12 days of its launch, it added.

The company’s first product for India, the Seltos, also continued its strong performance with 9,079 unit sales last month, the automaker said.

“The Indian auto market is recovering at a better-than-expected pace and we are progressing as per our defined plan. Our third product and the first compact SUV in India, the Kia Sonet, has completely transformed its segment,” Kia Motors India Managing Director and CEO Kookhyun Shim said.

The Sonet embodies Kia’s philosophy of ‘The Power to Surprise’ and that has shown resonance in the marketplace, as seen in the overwhelming response it has received from Indian customers, he added.

The sales of our other products like Seltos and Carnival are also encouraging, and with this strong product portfolio, the company is confident of continuing the positive forward momentum, Shim noted.

He added that the company has been constantly elevating its production capacity to meet the pre-COVID level of operations, and till now, have been successful in doing this too.

“This not only allows us to contribute to the revival of the Indian auto industry but also helps us bring notable growth for our business and bring down the waiting period of our vehicles,” Shim added.

With a competitive product line-up, Kia Motors is confident of meeting rising demand from customers, with the festive season around the corner, he noted.

“Bookings for the Sonet continue to rise on a daily basis which stands over 35,000 till now while there is a strong, consistent demand for the Seltos as well,” Shim said.

Apart from domestic sales, Kia is also aggressive towards making India as an export hub with over 70 identified export markets, aiming to trade 50,000 units of Sonet overseas within the next twelve months, he added.

The eager acceptance of the Sonet, as well as the robust sales of the Seltos and Carnival, indicates recovery of demand in the domestic market, even more so in anticipation of the festive season, the company said.

With two dynamic products like Seltos and Sonet, Kia’s dominance in the utility vehicle category continues to grow, it added.