Kia Motors America Announces April Sales (+17.3%)

[Bravada]

Kia Motors America Announces April Sales

Source: PR Newswire

IRVINE, Calif., May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced April sales of 30,036 units sold, a 17.3-percent increase over the same period last year.

Please refer to link for data table, Kia presents data in a way extremely unfriendly to directly present in our site.

Quick notes by Bravada:

Sorento almost trebled its 2009 (old model) sales results and now makes up almost 1/3 of Kia's sales

Soul sold over three times as much as in April 2009, its first full sales month. It is now Kia's second best-selling model. So much for America shunning quirky hatchbacks.

Forte loses some 20% of Spectra's sales, possibly due to lack of hatchback option???

Optima sees sudden sales rejuvenation with some +40%, which one might put down to its compact-level pricing.

Sedona sales continue their dive into -40% territory (-66% YTD)

Rio is going strong on some +33% in spite of nothing much done to the model - seems like small cheap cars are still hard to resist.

Rondo sales also fall by up to 66%. The compact MPV segment, which never really formed, is taking a big hit with the Pontiac Vibe and Chrysler PT Cruiser bowing out, and Mazda5 and Chevrolet HHR posting shrinking sales. This might be possibly due to the massive CUV/SUV resurgence.

Speaking of which, the Borrego remains a blip on Kia's radar, but still saw a sales increase of almost 50%.

[CheetahDC]

Kia's not offering the Borrego in the states anymore, so any sales are ones that're left on the lot.
As for the Soul...it's got a nice style.
I wonder if Kia's "Built in the USA" campaign for the Sorento has contributed to its sales?
Do you really think 1/5 of the Spectra's sales were hatches? Hm...
Owch at the Rondo. Funny thing... it's probably one of the more CUV styled minivans/MPVs.

[Bravada]

Kia is still featuring it atop their vehicle lineup in their site, it seems they might have built up a sizeable stock (see Saturn Astra) and thus continue to offer it, even if not build the US-spec 2010 versions.

I think more than 1/5 of Spectra's sales were hatches, but the 1/5 dip is explainable by the lack of hatch (the Forte is not a stellar car, but the Spectra was rather awful, so you'd expect a sudden surge in sales with this model changeover). The Forte surely drew many customers in, as the brand as a whole did, though many old Spectra5 customers probably went Soul, Sportage or Rio. Same could hold true for Rondo.

[OLDSCHOOLGMFAN]

Damn, that Sedona's a nice Minivan. Nice and big like the Mopars & Odyssey.

[boblutzfan]

So...not bad really. Wait until the fall when the Cadenza, Optima, and Sportage hit. They will join Hyundai which posted nearly a 30% jump in sales.

[G8tor]

Pretty surprising given they have only had one new product rollout which is the Sorento.

The Sportage, Amanti and Optima all have new and impressive replacements this fall. The Spectra is due a new replace shortly there after.

Surprised the Forte suffered in sales as it is a fairly new rollout with strong reviews.

[steve333]

>Forte loses some 20% of Spectra's sales, possibly due to lack of hatchback option???<

Name change.
Same thing happened when Cavalier became Cobalt
Same thing will happen with the change from Cobalt to Cruze

Name changes don't work, is bad marketing, ruins name recognition, will have no reliability record.
The only time I think it should happen is if a car name is really damaged goods-like Aveo, which oddly is not changing.

[Mcmflow]

So...not bad really. Wait until the fall when the Cadenza, Optima, and Sportage hit. They will join Hyundai which posted nearly a 30% jump in sales.

Agreed, can't wait for those models to come out. Kia is on a roll. I drove the soul when it came out and it's a decent car, I wish for a little more power and mpg, but good for what you get.

[YEH]

Comparisons w/ April 2008 sales gives a better indication of how each manufacturer is doing:

Ford: 167,542/196,385 = -15%
GM : 183,997/260,922 = -30%
Chrysler: 95,703/147,751 = -35%

Honda: 113697/135180 = -16%
Toyota: 157439/217700 = -28%
Hyundai: 44023/39280 = +12%
Kia: 30036/30066 = 0%

(Credit to UT)

[Neanderthal]

Kia's not offering the Borrego in the states anymore, so any sales are ones that're left on the lot.
As for the Soul...it's got a nice style.
I wonder if Kia's "Built in the USA" campaign for the Sorento has contributed to its sales?
Do you really think 1/5 of the Spectra's sales were hatches? Hm...
Owch at the Rondo. Funny thing... it's probably one of the more CUV styled minivans/MPVs.

Sorento has a great price point for lots of equipment and a nice restyle.
Oops, that's what Kia does!

Kia is still featuring it atop their vehicle lineup in their site, it seems they might have built up a sizeable stock (see Saturn Astra) and thus continue to offer it, even if not build the US-spec 2010 versions.

I think more than 1/5 of Spectra's sales were hatches, but the 1/5 dip is explainable by the lack of hatch (the Forte is not a stellar car, but the Spectra was rather awful, so you'd expect a sudden surge in sales with this model changeover). The Forte surely drew many customers in, as the brand as a whole did, though many old Spectra5 customers probably went Soul, Sportage or Rio. Same could hold true for Rondo.

Forte sales drop could be due to name change. WHY do people keep doing this?

Now way was Spectra awful. Even CD liked it.
It's a fine little car and I wish my 32,000+ dollar Pontiac was as well built and ergonomically friendly.

[krusshall]

So...not bad really. Wait until the fall when the Cadenza, Optima, and Sportage hit. They will join Hyundai which posted nearly a 30% jump in sales.

Hypocrit.

In a 20% growth environment, 17% means they lost market share...just like Chevrolet.

[G8tor]

Forte replaces the Spectra?

Thought it was a new model on its own especially with the Coupe offering sort of Kia's version of Tiburon. Hyundai is fixing to roll out a restyled Elantra just assumed a restyled Spectra was on tap as well.

[G8tor]

>Forte loses some 20% of Spectra's sales, possibly due to lack of hatchback option???<

Name change.
Same thing happened when Cavalier became Cobalt
Same thing will happen with the change from Cobalt to Cruze

Name changes don't work, is bad marketing, ruins name recognition, will have no reliability record.
The only time I think it should happen is if a car name is really damaged goods-like Aveo, which oddly is not changing.

Hmmm I will disaree with the Cruz. It will already have some reliability based on sales in other countries and it is a signficantly better vehicle than the Cobalt in all areas. The Cobalt was simply a minor evolution over the Cavalier.

Cruz will offer decent looks, top mileage in the Eco version and knock wood an SS version.

Though not in the market for a Cruz (perhaps for one of the kids) it is a really decent looking entry car compared to the Cobalt.

[SullyND]

I wonder if they've considered moving the Borrego into a Pickup trick instead of an SUV...

[Bravada]

Re: name change - Ford has suffered big time when they've replaced Escort with Focus apparently :p