Kia Global Car Sales By Model : 1994-2013

Trying to collect sales by model over such a period is difficult. Putting SUVs and MPVs in the list as well would have been too much, so cars alone come first. The percentage figure to the right is for cars as compared to the total. Understandably the figure dropped quickly as cars became the less obvious choice, but then China came along and they like the more traditional vehicle configuration. Therefore they gained some ground back. Now for a summary of each car, in order according to 2013 sales:

Rio: This subcompact model was called both the Pride and Avella (which were rebadged Ford Festivas) up until the year 2000, when replaced by the name Rio. To confuse things, it was also called the New Pride in Korea. They are currently made in Korea, China and Russia.

K3: Also known as the Forte and Cerato (and Shuma in China), it is in the compact car class. It has also gone under the names Spectra, Sephia as well as Shuma.

The 'valuable' Kia K3

K5: The mid-sized range has also been known as the Optima, Lotze and Magentis. When based on the Mazda 6 (Capella) the names Credos, Clarus, Concord and Capital were used. Plants that make them are in Korea, China and the US.

Picanto: Kia's city car is known as the Morning in Korea. It is currently related to the Hyundai i10 and previous to that the Atos. It has also used the Visto name, which used up to 2003.

C'eed: This compact car with the weird name is only made in Slovakia for the European market.

K7/9: I've combined two models here. First the K7 or Cadenza is Kia's full sized executive car, which replaced the Amanti/Opirus, before that the Enterprise and Potentia. It was initially modeled on the Mazda Sentia. The K9 sits above the K7 but sales are modest so I included them here.

The Kia K7 looks classy

TianLiMa: No, not a typo but a real name. It was a compact car I assume much the same as the K3 above but made especially for the Chinese market.

The only car missing is the Elan, which Kia bought the license from Lotus to make. Sales were from 1996 300, 400, 125 and 70. They have been added to the total figure.

Yr	Rio	K3	K5	Pican	C'eed	K7/9	Tian	Cars	Tot	%
94	169.9	139.9	36.6	-	-	21.1	-	368	394	93
95	168.6	157.5	66.9	-	-	21.8	-	415	452	92
96	146.8	181.9	117.3	-	-	20.6	-	467	513	91
97	113.2	169.2	95.1	-	-	23.6	-	402	466	86
98	52.5	111.9	28.2	-	-	3.1	-	196	282	69
99	96.7	164.0	33.0	48.5	-	6.1	-	348	571	56
00	112.4	161.4	52.6	111.8	-	5.2	-	443	682	56
01	142.0	149.8	98.5	101.0	-	4.1	-	495	686	60
02	139.5	124.3	79.5	63.9	-	3.0	1.9	412	714	53
03	140.8	78.4	81.8	37.1	-	22.3	43.9	404	750	51
04	110.6	121.8	101.4	115.2	-	44.1	55.8	549	956	57
05	119.5	167.0	92.6	148.0	-	29.7	66.3	623	1105	56
06	124.8	215.2	106.3	147.8	3.1	29.7	35.2	662	1142	58
07	155.3	220.4	102.4	148.2	123.1	32.5	5.3	787	1266	62
08	174.2	203.7	125.4	158.1	163.3	23.5	-	848	1312	65
09	201.0	369.3	91.4	206.3	121.6	19.8	-	1009	1459	69
10	224.9	449.1	123.0	204.9	95.9	55.7	-	1154	1974	58
11	304.4	427.3	231.1	250.5	103.7	35.7	-	1353	2354	57
12	489.6	384.8	345.2	239.4	120.6	35.9	-	1616	2622	62
13	475.9	441.6	327.7	258.3	122.8	51.5	-	1678	2710	62

Data source: Thanks to Hyundai Group. (Modified 2.09.14)

From less than 400,000 cars in 1994, Kia has come a long way since then. They sell mainly on value, but the quality is good too.