Kia’s April performance couldn’t quite match the record rainfall the country endured but the brand continued its remarkable 2012 performance delivering 5,120 new vehicles to customers during the month.
Although that figure was down by just over 100 units compared to the company’s record April at the height of scrappage in 2010 the market share in April rose to 3.6 per cent – continuing a dramatic growth rate so far this year. Total sales so far in 2012 reached 22,331, up from 18,311 in 2011.
And importantly for Kia’s enormous investment in its Slovakian production facility, European-sourced vehicles in the year so far reached a new record proportion of 48.6 per cent of all Kia’s sold in the UK.
This performance is an interesting facet to Kia’s growth in the UK. Since the first cee’d models rolled out of the Zilina factory for delivery to the UK in 2007 the importance of EU-sourced vehicles has steadily grown.
In that first year of 2007 European vehicles represented almost 23 per cent of Kia’s sales in the UK. By the end of last year that proportion had risen to slightly over 46 per cent. Already this year European-built vehicles represent 48.6 per cent of Kia sales in the UK – and in April itself the proportion was even higher at 53.7 per cent.
Michael Cole, Managing Director of Kia Motors (UK) Limited said: “Although the UK economy is not yet out of the woods, there are signs that growth may come back slowly, but steadily. Retail sales are holding up strongly and business sales are also showing improvement.
“For Kia, our European-built product is continuing to prove remarkably successful with existing cee’d, Venga and Sportage all playing their parts. When the all-new cee’d arrives in June we expect the performance of our European-built models to go still higher. It clearly demonstrates that if you are building attractive, quality new cars at a fair price there are customers willing to support you,” he added.
