Sonet, Carens continue to power Kia sales in India, but Seltos sees dip

Korean auto giant Kia has clocked a marginal increase in sales in May despite a six-day shutdown of its facility last month. The carmaker sold 24,770 units in May, an increase of around three per cent over what it sold during the same month last year. The Sonet, Kia's sub-compact SUV, emerged as the carmaker's best-selling model last month for the second time since its launch. Kia's three-row MPV Carens too continued to bolster the Korean automaker's sales in the country.

Kia released its sales report for May, saying that its facility located in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh was shut down for maintenance purposes from May 15 to May 20. Despite the loss of production days, the carmaker managed to deliver more cars than the same month in 2022. "Although we faced some production limitations due to our plant annual maintenance shutdown for a week in May which impacted our numbers, we are confident of strong performance in coming months," said Hardeep Singh Brar, National Head (Sales & Marketing) at Kia India. While 18,766 units were despatched to customers in India, Kia also exported 6,004 units to other countries as well during this period.

Kia Sonet, which rivals the likes of Tata Nexon, Maruti Suzuki Brezza and Hyundai Venue among others in the sub-compact SUV, found 8,251 homes last month. In April too, Sonet emerged as the Korean auto giant's best-selling model, eclipsing the Seltos SUV. The compact SUV was the first model from the carmaker to be launched in India and has been the key driver of Kia's sales for the past few years. In May, Kia delivered only 4,065 units of the SUV. Currently, the carmaker is preparing to launch the new generation Seltos SUV to take on the likes of Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara among others in its segment.

The Carens MPV, launched in February last year, continues to grow in terms of sales. It is currently the second best-selling model from Kia with 6,367 units delivered last month. Kia recently updated the three-row model with the introduction of a new 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine and the iMT gearbox. Carens is also currently among the best-selling three-row passenger vehicles in the country. According to the carmaker, the iMT gearbox has seen growing demand contributing around 38 per cent of its overall sales last month.

Kia also sold 83 units of the EV6, its only electric vehicle on offer in India. The carmaker is expected to launch the new generation Carnival, showcased as the KA4 during the Auto Expo earlier this year.