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Kia Canada May sales rise 22%
Kia has grown accustomed to setting sales records in the past couple of years and continued that trend in May 2012. Kia Canada Inc. announced a second straight best month ever with sales of 8,460 new vehicles during the month. That represents a staggering 22.1% increase over May 2011, not to mention a 21.1% increase in year to date sales over 2011.
Kia Canada has moved 31,516 units so far this year, with all four Canadian regions doing their part to contribute to those impressive figures. The numbers from May 2012 also mean that Kia has now put in 41 consecutive months of growth, which is an industry best.
The top performers in May came from the Kia Forte family, with the sedan, Koup, and 5-door all performing well and racking up 1, 839 units sold. The sub-compact Rio had its second consecutive month of record sales by moving 1,696 units. That number was actually a 106.8 percent over the previous year’s sales, which is something of an incredible feat.
In the mid-size vehicle category, the Optima (including the Optima Hybrid version) chipped in with 1,459 units, while the 2013 Kia Sorento also crossed the thousand unit mark with a total of 1,049 units sold in last month.
Jack Uczciwek, Director of Sales for Kia Canada Inc. spoke of the amazing response that the Canadian buying public had had to the entire Kia line-up. He went on to say that they are seeing an increase in the number of consumers visiting Kia dealerships all across the country, all of whom seem to be drawn to the design, style, and fuel economy that is found across the entire Kia range.
There was more exciting news for the South Korean second largest carmaker in May as they announced a partnership with Live Nation Entertainment. The pairing includes premium venues such as the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre in Toronto and the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver and makes Kia the exclusive automotive partner for live events that Live Nation Canada brings to both of those arenas.
Kia has also put their name into Canadian soccer by acquiring the naming rights to Toronto FC’s training ground and academy. The state-of-the-art facility will be known as the Kia Training Ground, with the soccer program going by the Kia Toronto FC Academy.
These are both huge steps in helping to train and develop Canada’s soccer stars of the future, and it’s obvious that Kia is very proud to be allowed to play a part in that development. [Source: Kia Canada]
It’s funny. even with all of this amazing news, here in Canada we could have sold so many more vehicle if we had more product……A good position to be in none the less.
for May the Optima actually outsold the Sonata which I believe is a first! My dealer says the vehicle is having the most trouble trying to get sufficient stock is the Soul.
I work for a dealer in Ontario and would agree that the soul is very tough to get right now, but in general manual transmission is really hard to get and is in high demand.
Phil Smith Kia in Lighthouse Point, SE Florida claims that Kia sales in Canada are significantly stronger then here in the U.S. and will probably eventually exceed even Hyundai. Kia is doing quite well in the U.S. compared to other vehicle Brands too. Perhaps if Kia USA started putting Canadian content into its U.S. Model line at equivalent (trim) levels, they too would pick up market share over Hyundai. Example, Canadian 2012/2013 Kia Rio and Rio5 (base) LX has Daytime Running Lamps, Armrest with Storage Box and Fog Lights while U.S. spec version has none of the above. Perhaps heated rear view exterior mirrors, seats, and steering wheels are not a huge concern in most of the U.S., but those other features are!