South Korean automaker Kia Motors has been in the news for some time now about the Carriage, whose launch is slated for mid-February, with the company announcing that it has launched the Seltos and Sonnet SUVs worldwide in just 29 months. It has exported more than one lakh units from India. The carmaker today announced that it has reached the milestone by exporting the two SUVs to over 90 countries.
Kia India today issued a statement saying that since commencing shipping of Seltos in September 2019, it has registered 1 lakh vehicles in exports. It said it has exported a total of 1,01,734 vehicles since its India debut till January this year. The 91 countries to which the Seltos and Sonnet SUVs were exported during this period are the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, Mexico and the Asia-Pacific regions.
The Seltos SUV is a more popular product globally than the subcompact Sonnet SUV, Kia said, adding that the export share of Seltos and Sonnet is 77 per cent and 23 per cent respectively. In 2021, Kia India exported 46,261 units of Seltos and Sonnet, registering a year-on-year growth of 23 per cent in exports, making Kia the number one vehicle exporter in the country with over 25 per cent market share. It also ranks third in the overall passenger vehicle segment with a market share of close to 9 percent.
Tae-Jin-Park, MD & CEO, Kia India said, “India is a strategic geography for Kia Corporation, not only in terms of sales but also in terms of developing India as a manufacturing and export hub. For SUVs Our hi-tech Anantapur plant has become one of the most important production hubs for compact and mid-sized SUVs.We are extremely glad that our India-centric models, Seltos and Sonnet, have performed commendably in the international market .