Kia car sales in U.S. top 300,000 mark

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- Kia Motors Co., South Korea's second largest carmaker, said Friday that its sales in the United States exceeded the 300,000 mark in the first eight months of 2011.
The company said it sold 41,188 units last month, with overall sales reaching 331,796 units in the North American market. The cumulative sales figure represents a 39.4 percent increase from the 237,953 vehicles sold in the same eight-month period last year.
The new Sorento sport utility vehicle led sales, followed by solid gains in demand for its Soul, Forte and Optima models. Sales of its Optima mid-size sedan surged 259.2 percent on-year, it said.
In addition to the solid gains made by the South Korean carmaker, its sister company Hyundai Motor Co. said its sales last month jumped 9 percent on-year to 58,505 units.
South Korea's largest carmaker said total sales in the January-August period reached 440,863 units for a 21 percent increase from 363,491 tallied last year during the same timeframe.
Hyundai said the surge in sales was led by its popular Sonata sedan and its new Elantra compact. Sales of the mid-size Sonata reached 20,682 units.
Combined sales of Hyundai and Kia, the flagship companies of the Hyundai Motor Group, hit 99,693 units in August, making it the fifth best seller after General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group and Toyota Motor Co.
Sales by the two companies, meanwhile, reached 772,659 units up till late August, placing it fifth in the sales ranking in the U.S. market, ahead of Japan's Honda Motor Co. for the first time. The market share of Hyundai and Kia has reached 9.1 percent so far this year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr