Kia Motors logs sharpest sales gain in Canada

SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Yonhap) -- Sales growth of cars made by Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, outpaced all rivals in the Canadian market this year, industry sources said Wednesday.
Sources said that the report by Ward's Auto showed Kia selling 39,478 vehicles in the January-July period, up 22.8 percent from a year earlier.
The Canadian automotive media outlet said Kia was the only major carmaker to have posted sales growth exceeding 20 percent in the cited period. Kia's market share stood at 4.2 percent.
After Kia, sales growth of cars made by Chrysler reached 13.2 percent, with numbers for Hyundai Motor Co., Kia's sister company, hitting 10.5 percent.
In comparison, sales by General Motors Co. contracted 1.3 percent with Toyota and Honda reporting a drop in sales.
Kia's success has been led by the Forte compact, Rio sub-compact, Soul cross-over utility vehicle, as well as its Sorento sport utility vehicle.
Sales of the Forte and Soul jumped 17 percent and 40.9 percent, respectively, in the first seven months of this year.
The carmaker said that with production of its K5 mid-size sedan expected to begin at its Georgia plant in the U.S. in September, sales of the car should get a boost in Canada as well. The K5 has recently received good reviews from automotive media outlets in the North American country.
yonngong@yna.co.kr