Kia
Motors Corporation of Seoul, South Korea, has reported improved business
performance in Q1, 2014 - despite flat trading in the domestic market and a
strong Korean Won-US Dollar exchange rate.
Kia saw its global sales
rise 5.2 per cent to over 687,000 vehicles in the first three months, with
China reporting a 13.3 per cent increase to 156,000 and Europe showing an
uplift of 7.9 per cent to 89,000 units.
In the US, sales increased
4.8 per cent to 133,000 and the rest of the world saw a modest 1.8 per cent
increase to 201,000 vehicles. The Korean market experienced a sales drop of
1,000 units to 108,000 - a decrease of 0.6 per cent.
Despite an exchange rate
that saw the US dollar fall 1.6 per cent against the Korean Won the company
still recorded improved revenues, up 7.6 per cent, of 11.9 trillion Korean Won
(1,096KW = US $ 1), a gross profit of almost 2.5 trillion Korean Won and an
operating profit of 736 billion Korean Won - and increase of 4.5 per cent
against the same period last year.
The performance was
supported by improved sales of recreational vehicles (RVs) in most markets
around the world - up from 27 per cent of total sales to 29 per cent. That
trend was marked in Europe where RV sales - Sportage and Sorento - amounted to
36 per cent of Q1 sales compared to 29 per cent in the first quarter of 2013.
Factory production also
increased in Q1 with Korean plants producing 433,000 vehicles - up 9.3 per cent
on 2013. Overseas plants - China, Europe
and the US - produced 10.8 per cent more vehicles - delivering 339,000 units
compared to 306,000 in 2013. ∎
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