Kia inspires with 2021 sales results

Posted by Azizi Media - Thursday, 13th January 2022

• Record market share of 5.5 per cent achieved
• 90,817 sales for the year, representing a 28.7 per cent year-on-year increase
• e-Niro second best-selling fully electric car
• One in three Kia models sold was electrified
• Sportage a top ten best seller in 2021, ahead of the all-new model launch at the start of 2022
• Kia fleet market share now 6.4 per cent

Kia UK has ended 2021 on a high with 90,817 new car sales and a record market share of 5.5 per cent, indicating strong demand and a return to pre-coronavirus levels.

Full year sales show an impressive recovery for Kia, with a 28.7 per cent year-on-year improvement over 2020, thanks to Kia’s effective supply chain management strategies and the successful launch of new models. For comparison, the overall UK new car market grew by just 1.0 per cent year-on-year.

The fully electric e-Niro ended the year as the second best-selling EV, having sold 12,271 units. This helped Kia secure third position in fully electric car sales, selling 14,337 EVs in the year and achieving an impressive 7.5 per cent share.

Further demonstrating the popularity of Kia’s Eco models, one in three of every Kia sold in 2021 was a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or EV, with 29,049 units sold. This is well ahead of the 27.5 per cent total UK market that was electrified.

Sportage finished the year as the 9th best seller, with 27,611 units sold. This further proved the model’s continued popularity with customers despite being the fourth generation’s final year of sales.

Kia sold 53,687 units to fleet customers – a 39.5 per cent rise year-on-year – which now ranks Kia as the fourth most popular fleet brand, with a 6.4 per cent fleet market share.

Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia UK Limited, commented: “2021 was a rollercoaster of a year, but after a slow start we recovered very strongly achieving growth of almost 29 per cent in the year and a record market share of 5.5 per cent. We also ended the year with a very healthy order bank particularly for our outstanding range of electrified products, with demand for e-Niro and EV6 particularly strong. 2022 is set to be a very exciting year for Kia as we build on our momentum and look forward to the imminent launch of the outstanding all-new Sportage. I am confident that we will get off to a very encouraging start to the year.”

Kia kicked off 2021 with a new logo, future ambitions and ‘Movement that inspires’ brand slogan in January. The month saw Kia UK achieve one of its best ever sales results, while the e-Niro became the UK’s best-selling fully electric model.

However, challenging market conditions following national lockdowns allowed for only a small increase in sales for Kia in Q1, before Q2 saw Kia bounce back in style. During the first complete month of fully re-opened showrooms across the UK, the brand recorded its best ever May with 8,207 units sold and a 5.0 per cent market share for the first time.

Kia achieved its best-ever Q3 performance in 2021, with record after record smashed as the months progressed. September also saw the 10,000^th Kia EV sold year-to-date, which was more than all previous years of Kia EV sales combined.

Similarly, Q4 got off to a flying start with October breaking yet more sales records for Kia, with 81,532 units sold year-to-date. The month also welcomed the introduction of the EV6 to the model range and its first customer deliveries, as well as pricing for the updated Ceed model family. November was Kia’s second best on record, while December rounded out the year with 2,903 sales to secure Kia’s market position ready for 2022 when it aims to surpass 2021’s result with sustainable growth.

2022 is an important year for Kia, with the launch of the all-new Sportage – available for the first time as hybrid and plug-in hybrid – in Q1 and the first full year of EV6 sales that will both continue Kia’s sales and already well-established Eco sales momentum. Towards the end of the year, the new EV6 ‘GT’ will be introduced – an exciting performance variant of the award-winning electric car.