Kia India has pushed previous the two,50,000-unit home gross sales milestone after recording whole gross sales of 16,111 models in April 2021. Having begun gross sales operations in August 2019, the landmark has come up in a scant 22 months.
- Kia Seltos gross sales cross 1.75 lakh models mark since launch
- Kia Sonet gross sales stand at 71,441 models since launch
- Carmaker trying to ramp up manufacturing in June-July
This outstanding efficiency for the Korean model, which barely three years in the past was hardly identified in India, has surprisingly not given it a robust foothold within the Indian passenger car market. It is at present the No. 5 within the general passenger car market with a 5.74 % market share and the No. 3 within the utility car market, behind Maruti and Hyundai, having pipped Mahindra & Mahindra in FY2021.
Kia has achieved this with all of three merchandise – the made-in-India Seltos and Sonet SUVs and the CKD-assembled Carnival MPV.
Kia Seltos gross sales cross 1.75 lakh models; Sonet crosses 70,000 unit mark
The Seltos, the primary product launched in August 2019, has offered a complete of 1,78,895 models until end-April 2021, accounting for 70 % of Kia’s whole gross sales of two,55,770 models. The Sonet compact SUV, that was launched a yr after the Seltos in September 2020, has gone house to 71,441 patrons and contains 28 % of Kia India’s cumulative gross sales until now. The luxurious Carnival MPV, a halo product, has offered a complete of 5,434 models and makes up the remainder of the gross sales.
What is laudable is that in FY2021, most of which was impacted by the pandemic, Kia noticed robust demand for each the Seltos and the Sonet. In truth, the Seltos was the fourth best-selling SUV in India with 89,173 models offered, transferring up one rank from FY2020 when it offered 81,717 models. Sibling Sonet too has pulled within the numbers with 63,717 models offered in its first yr in India.
Kia goals at 30 % progress in FY2022
Buoyed by its robust efficiency in FY2021 regardless of opposed market situations, Kia India is bullish about attaining 30 % year-on-year progress this fiscal. Recently chatting with our sister publication, Autocar Professional, Harpreet Singh Brar, VP and Head of Sales and Marketing, Kia India, stated, “Currently, we have a waiting period of 3-4 months on our products. Despite all the tough times and lockdowns in five states, we still have a lot of demand from the rest of the markets, so we are trying to supply cars to these cities.”
“Right now, the situation is very fluid and uncertain, but the good thing this time is that unlike last year, the lockdown is in phases and not on a national scale. So, if everything goes fine, we are looking at anything in the ballpark of 2,00,000 units by end-FY2022,” he added.
“We hope to ramp up production by June-July and start the third shift at the plant, as we hope that the pandemic-related supply-chain issues should be resolved by that time,” added Singh.
Kia gross sales overview
That Kia could be a big-numbers participant was obvious in just a few months after launch. The technique of launching its first product in a number of variants, at a number of price-points clicked majorly in a aggressive SUV market, and has since been duplicated by some rival OEMs too. While the 25,000-unit gross sales mark was crossed in 3 months, the 75,000-units gross sales landmark got here up in simply 7 months. The 1,00,000-mark was crossed in 11 months and now the two,50,000-milestone has come up in one other 11 months since then, indicating the marked acceleration in gross sales.
That’s not all, the corporate launched the refreshed Seltos and Sonet in India on May 1 with extra options whereas additionally sporting the brand-new Kia emblem, and This fall of FY2022 is anticipated to see Kia introduce an India-specific midsize MPV (codename KY) however that’s a unique story altogether.
Also see:
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Kia, Hyundai, Tata gain utility vehicle market share in FY2021
