KIA DELIVERS ITS 1 MILLIONTH CAR IN THE UK

Kia Motors (UK) Limited has hit the 1 million car landmark in the UK in January 2019 – less than 30 years after the first Kia Pride was brought to British motorists.

• • Kia reaches 1 million cars sold since 1991
  • Sportage GT-Line delivered to customer in Scotland
  • First car in the UK was a Kia Pride

  In 1991 the Korean brand was launched and 1,786 cars were sold in the UK – last year, 2018, the company hit another record sales volume of 95,764 bringing its overall total since that first Pride to 998,069.

  In the marque’s first decade in the UK just under 50,000 cars were sold. After 20 years Kia had delivered 372,000 cars to UK customers. The sales-pace accelerated after the opening of the company’s plant in Slovakia in 2006 and during the last eight years around 626,000 cars have come to the UK.

  Now a customer in Scotland, Dr Fergus Duncan has become the proud owner of a blue Sportage GT-Line model which is also available at Group 1 Kia in Coulsdon

  Andrew Rogers, Sales Manager at Beadles Kia comments “It’s such a huge moment to see Kia hand over its 1 millionth car – and one of the best-selling models too! Here at Beadles Kia in Coulsdon we can’t wait to help Kia hit even more sales records in 2019.

  Paul Philpott, President and Chief Executive at Kia in the UK said: “This is a remarkable milestone and all of us at Kia are extremely proud to have reached this momentous moment inside three decades.

  “The Kia brand started in the UK with sensible, budget-focused vehicles but during the last decade in particular our customer-base has grown on the back of outstanding design, unmatchable quality and the reassurance of our industry-leading seven year warranty.

  “I don’t know just when we will reach the 2 million mark, but we are all looking forward to the journey to that point and it will be an exciting ride that I am sure will see the nature of the motoring world change quite considerably,” he added.

  Philpott announced the landmark was about to be reached during Kia’s National Dealer Conference in Liverpool – the brand’s biggest-ever event with more than 850 delegates from the 192-strong dealer network attending.