Kia Motors increased European sales by 22.8pc in July

The crisis is not treating equally everyone within the manufacturing car sector. Take Kia Motors Corporation. The South-Korean giant recently announced that its global sales figures, including export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants, have jumped on the upward trend. In passenger cars, recreational vehicles and commercial vehicles for July 2012, the company recorded a total of 226,818 units sold. It represents a year-on-year increase of an enviable 9 percent.

In July, Kia posted strong year-on-year sales increases of 22.8 percent in Europe (50,106 units sold); 12.9 percent in general markets (45,444 units sold) ; 7.5 percent in North America (55,757 units sold); and 2.3 percent in China (35,211 units sold). Meanwhile, July sales in Kia’s home market of Korea decreased by 1 percent (40,300 units sold) year-on-year.

The year is proving good for Kia Motors and a confirmation of its slogan. The name “Kia” would derive from the Sino-Korean words ki (“to come out”) and a (which stands for Asia), and so it could roughly translate into “rising out of Asia”. True enough.

Cumulatively through the first seven months of 2012, Kia’s global sales have increased by 11.6 percent year-on-year to reach 1,575,649 units. Europe, North America and China have experienced the highest cumulative gains to date in 2012 of 25.1 percent (336,197 units sold), 16.3 percent (383,762 units sold), and 14.2 percent (271,650 units sold), respectively.

Over 2.5 million Kia vehicles are produced a year in 15 manufacturing and assembly operations in ten countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 172 countries. Kia has over 47,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of $39 billion.