Kia achieves 1 mil. cumulative sales in Australia after 37 years
This photo shows a ceremony held at a dealership in Queensland, Australia, to celebrate the sale of Kia's 1 millionth car in the country, Thursday. Courtesy of Kia
Kia, Korea's second-largest automaker, said Thursday it has surpassed 1 million cumulative sales in Australia, 37 years after entering the Oceanian nation.
The milestone was marked with a ceremony held Wednesday (local time) at a dealership in Queensland, according to the company.
Kia first entered the country in 1988 and launched a local sales subsidiary in 2006. It reached 500,000 units in cumulative sales in 2018 before doubling the figure in just seven years.
The Cerato, known as K4 in Korea, was Kia's bestselling model in Australia with 200,780 units sold, followed by the Sportage, Rio and Carnival models, with 188,159 units, 166,062 units and 123,854 units, respectively.
"Kia has thrived in a competitive and dynamic market, backed by products that have evolved to meet changing expectations and a brand that has earned the trust of Australian customers," Damien Meredith, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kia Australia, said. "With a fresh wave of innovative models on the horizon, today's celebration marks an exciting starting point for our next chapter."