Rivals Wish They Had The Year Kia Did
Kia America reached several milestones in 2024, particularly by refreshing its portfolio for its North American market and setting records as other automakers struggled. As a conclusion to a strong year, the South Korean marque has entered the New Year with something to celebrate about – it achieved its second consecutive best annual sales ever, beating its performance in the previous period.
Kia
Kia is a South Korean automaker headquartered in Seoul. It was originally founded in 1944 as a bicycle manufacturer which later built small motorcycles, and Mazda-licensed trucks and cars. After building an assembly plant in th early 70s, the company also produced the Bisa range of cars until 1981 before coming to a half due to the political situation at the time. Production kicked off again in 1986 in partnership with Ford, and in 1992 the company started sellling cars in North America. Today it is the second-largest automaker in South Korea, right behind Hyundai.
- Founded
- June 9, 1944 (as Kyungsung Precision Industry)
- Founder
- Kim Cheol-ho
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Owned By
- Hyundai Motor Group
- Current CEO
- Ho Sung Song
Kia America finished 2024 selling a total of 796,488 units, up slightly by 1.8% from the 782,451 units sold in 2023. According to the company, there’s a significant increase in retail sales, adamant to point out that the growth excludes fleet numbers – a trend that it has maintained for the past seven years. The performing models are a mixed bag of body types, though they don’t differ much from the top-sellers of last year.
|
Kia America 2024 Sales |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Model |
2024 |
2023 |
|
EV9 |
22,017 |
1,118 |
|
EV6 |
21,715 |
18,879 |
|
Rio |
1,917 |
26,804 |
|
K4/Forte |
139,778 |
123,953 |
|
K5 |
46,311 |
64,772 |
|
Stinger |
0 |
5,452 |
|
Soul |
52,397 |
61,263 |
|
Niro |
30,094 |
36,300 |
|
Seltos |
59,958 |
60,053 |
|
Sportage |
161,917 |
140,780 |
|
Sorento |
95,154 |
88,625 |
|
Telluride |
115,504 |
110,765 |
|
Carnival |
49,726 |
43,687 |
|
Total |
796,488 |
782,451 |
The Sportage And K4 Combo
Just like in 2023, the best-sellers in 2024 are the Sportage and K4. The latter sold 139,778 units – a 12.8% increase from 2023 – proving that affordability is an effective way to attract buyers. The introduction of an all-new model in March certainly didn’t hurt its case, arriving in dealerships in September with a $21,990 starting price. Meanwhile, despite the impending arrival of a refreshed version, the Sportage remained on top, moving 161,917 units in total – a significant 15% increase from 2023.
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Surprisingly, the Telluride remains a strong performer for Kia despite not receiving significant updates and a price bump. Kia sold 115,504 units of the Mazda CX-90 and Honda Pilot rival, up by 4.3% from the same period last year. On the flip side, the Soul, K5, and Rio underperformed in 2024, though the latter’s not surprising considering that the automaker has already discontinued the model for 2024MY.
Kia EVs Are Getting More Popular
Kia’s push for its EVs made significant strides, with both of its battery-electric models seeing growth in their US sales. After finishing with full-year sales, the automaker recorded 22,017 units sold for the award-winning EV9. It outpaced the smaller and therefore cheaper EV6, albeit only by a few hundred units, which in itself saw a 15% year-over-year increase in sales from 18,879 to 21,715 units. Of note, the EV9 will even be better soon, with a slew of updates coming.
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The EV6 has also been updated with fresh looks, so we expect Kia to continue recording strong sales. As noted by Automotive News, Hyundai also set new sales records, and its Georgia facilities coming online should help boost output in 2025. “Achieving back-to-back annual sales records along with surpassing consumer sales records for seven consecutive years is a validation that our strategy is working to further elevate the Kia brand and the potential for sustained growth in the US market,” said Seungkyu (Sean) Yoon, president and CEO, Kia North America and Kia America.
