Kia sales top half a million in Europe for the first time

Kia achieved total annual sales of 502,845 units in Europe for 2019, representing a sales increase of 1.7%, and marking the brand's 11^th consecutive year of growth. The brand also achieved an all-time high of 3.2% market share across the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Area countries (EUFTA).

Increasing customer interest in advanced powertrains brought added momentum to Kia's success last year. Sales of the brand's hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully-electric cars increased from 58,029 to 66,386 units (an increase of 14.4%) in 2019.

The Niro range, incorporating hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully-electric variants, remained the brand's best-selling electrified model line, with sales totalling 57,519 units (+27.1% compared to 2018). The Niro Hybrid accounted for 37,475 units (+8.2%), with additional growth from the Niro Plug-in Hybrid (10,144 units, +1.9%) and the new Niro Electric (9,900 units).

With the new fully-electric Soul EV also on sale in selected markets towards the end of the year, total sales of Kia electric vehicles almost doubled, from 7,064 in 2018 to 13,132 units in 2019 (+85.9%). The Optima Plug-in Hybrid range, available in saloon and Sportswagon variants, also saw sales improvement, with 5,635 units sold last year (+23.2%).

2019 saw the Ceed model family become Kia's bestselling product across the EU and EFTA, with registrations totalling 110,201 units - a year-on-year upturn of 46.0%. The brand's previous best-seller, the Kia Sportage, was a close second, recording strong sales of 109,838 units through the year.