These are the latest sales numbers from Kia Motors America. The report for month of September 2008 reveals that Kia sold 17,383 vehicles and shows a sharp decline in monthly sales compared to September of last year.
Year to date passenger car sales are up 17.2 percent, with Rondo posting a 3-percent increase over the same month last year and a 38.4-percent increase year to date. Optima and Rio also posted year to date increases of 31.5 and 21.7 percent respectively with 40,778 and 30,329 units sold.
With this sales report, I’d like to point out how things change fast! Just a few months ago, we were confident that Kia will register another record year in the US. But recent world finance crisis dampened our hopes. Not only Kia’s, but also other automaker’s year to date sales are falling and with the current market conditions, it’s quite impossible to expect these company’s to report better results compared last year.
To more accurately represent how badly auto industry fares at the moment I can also tell you that the overall US auto sales fell below 1 million mark last month, for the first time in the last 15 years. September 2008 was actually the worst auto sales month in US since 1983.
| MONTH OF SEPTEMBER | YEAR-TO-DATE | |||
| Model | 2008 | 2007 | 2008 | 2007 |
| Rio | 2,701 | 2,638 | 30,329 | 24,930 |
| Spectra | 3,878 | 5,785 | 58,915 | 55,546 |
| Optima | 1,905 | 3,004 | 40,778 | 31,021 |
| Amanti | 163 | 220 | 2,806 | 5,057 |
| Sportage | 1,721 | 4,083 | 27,853 | 36,150 |
| Sorento | 3,163 | 3,249 | 20,636 | 29,687 |
| Sedona | 1,648 | 2,544 | 20,858 | 31,825 |
| Rondo | 2,642 | 2,564 | 24,680 | 17,827 |
| Borrego | 192 | n/a | 1,233 | n/a |
| Total | 17,383 | 24,087 | 228,088 | 232,043 |
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October 7th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
OUCH! thats a big drop for Kia considering how good it was doing. but its seems almost all manufacturers have experienced declines. Can someone tell me names of makes that havent experienced declines in US?
October 7th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Well, I can…
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Yup there is no automaker that posted gains compared to last year!
October 7th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Audi and Mini brand were the one that posted the lowest decrease in sales. Audi was at -5% while Mini ended the month at -8%.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
For those who see this and want to say something negative like what was they thinking about the Borrego before we get on that how about what were the BIG 3 thinking about the Challenger, Camero and 2010 Mustang that is over 50 grand with the economy in very bad shape.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
And besides, Toyota sells declined 32 percent while Kia declined 28 percent. Just incase we get some smart remarks. Also, I haven’t seen any new Land Crusiers (which is bof) on the road yet!
October 7th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Now you mentioned Borrego, I really really wonder why Borrego sales fell so badly. Is it that Kia has some supply problems or it’s just simply because of gas prices.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
It’s not really gas prices that seem to be the issue. It’s the fact that so many people are getting laid off from jobs. America has lost thousands of jobs. Hardly do I see new cars with 30 day tags on them like last year. It’s terrible. The investment banks are in trouble and I keep on hearing the press saying is our money save in commercial banks.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Well yeah, the price of gas has fallen sharply in the last few weeks. Correct me if I’m wrong, but a price for a barrel is under $88 again. For a comparison, it was at record high $147 in July!
October 7th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Notice how the greedy ones in charge of pricing aren’t lowering the price of gas at the pump in relation to how much gas is really costing per barrel? We should only be paying about $2.50/gal right now for RUG!
October 8th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Borrego is dead in the water. SUVs in general are toast, and most crossovers are hurting, too. Small cars and midsize sedans are where it’s at–the Soul and Forte can’t come fast enough.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I agree about Soul and Forte, but new SUV sales hold 18% of the market share. Gas contimues to fall here. It is down to $3.23 for Regualr and Mid-grade. Premium is $3.31. It is falling rapidly. Is this doing the hurricane effect? You know, how the water goes way down and then the storm surge comes? Scary thought. I just hope it continues to fall. Late March-early April of 2007 when we went to Florida gas was $2.44 per gallon.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Dunno, Greg. The ghastly powers-that-be set the pricing rules. And they rule things pretty much. Borrego would be an awesome, sweet SUV to own, too.