Further confirmation that the popular Kia cee´d is becoming a major attraction for C-segment family car buyers in Europe comes with news that this model has claimed the No1 sales spot in two countries during October.
In the Czech Republic, Kia cee´d was the best-selling imported car (the top non-Skoda) for the first time in October and was the top-selling imported C-segment car for the second time, having also achieved this accolade in April.
Kia´s total sales in October jumped 63% as the brand claimed a 3.47% market share. Over the first 10 months of 2007, Kia sales have climbed 67% enabling the brand to claim a Top 10 position, closely following Opel and beating Fiat.
In Finland, the Kia cee´d leapt up the sales charts in October and claimed the No1 spot in its class, beating the Golf, Octavia, Auris and Focus, and capturing a 14.9% share of the C-segment. Kia´s overall market share jumped by 50% to 7.2% during this month.
“We have made a huge effort to ensure that the Kia cee´d family is exceptionally well styled, well built, keenly priced and has immense appeal for many different groups of European consumers. Positive media reports and a growing number of delighted cee´d owners are accelerating demand and sales as the year unfolds,” commented Mr Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President Kia Motors Europe.
“Since its launch in Europe in December 2006, orders for more than 100,000 cee´d five-door models have been received, and this model, with its 5-Star EuroNCAP safety rating, has played a key role in raising Kia brand awareness as well as our sales volumes.”
The Kia cee´d family of cars – five-door hatchback, five-door wagon and three-door pro_cee´d – are built at Kia Motors´ first-ever vehicle manufacturing facility in Europe – the €1 billion operation at Zilina in Slovakia.
With a highly-trained staff of 2,600 employees working two shifts, Zilina is now building four different Kia models – three cee´d variants and the 2008 Sportage compact SUV range – on the same assembly lines.
Thanks to the durability and quality of Kia cars manufactured in Slovakia, all Kia cee´d and Kia Sportage models sold in Europe now come with the unique Kia 7-Year/150,000km Warranty.
