December 2017: Kia Motors America

[William Maley]

KIA MOTORS AMERICA ANNOUNCES DECEMBER SALES

• Forte, Optima and Soul Models Pass the 100,000 Unit Mark for the Second Consecutive Year

IRVINE, Calif., January 3, 2018 – Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced December sales of 43,039 vehicles. Kia’s 2017 sales total of 589,668 units featured several standout performances, including:

• The expansion of Kia’s EcoDynamics footprint with 27,237 Niro hybrid vehicles sold in less than 12 full months in showrooms, making Niro the third best-selling hybrid vehicle in the U.S.1
• Best-ever annual sales for the Forte family of compact cars
• A 52.9-percent increase in sales of the Cadenza premium sedan to the highest annual total since arriving in the U.S. in 2013
• Three nameplates – Soul, Forte and Optima – surpassing the 100,000-unit mark for the second straight year

“2017 was an important year in the ongoing maturation of the Kia brand as we ranked number one in the entire industry in J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study for the second consecutive year and saw two nameplates reach new sales heights,” said Justin Sohn, president and CEO, KMA. “With the highly anticipated Stinger now arriving in showrooms and a host of new and refreshed products scheduled to debut this year, including the all-new Niro PHEV, Kia will continue to strengthen its position as today’s world-class automaker.”

	MONTH OF DECEMBER		YEAR-TO-DATE
Model	2017	2016	2017	2016
Rio	1,618	1,269	16,760	28,700
Forte	7,922	7,560	117,596	103,292
Optima	7,081	12,572	107,493	124,203
Cadenza	896	428	7,249	4,738
K900	35	80	455	834
Niro	2,397	N/A	27,237	N/A
Sportage	5,585	6,207	72,824	81,066
Sorento	7,740	11,782	99,684	114,733
Sedona	1,329	2,028	23,815	44,264
Soul	7,610	12,427	115,712	145,768
Stinger	826	N/A	843	N/A
Total	43,039	54,353	589,668	647,598

# # #

[A Horse With No Name]

As much as I love to make KIA a whipping boy in terms of product I have to give them some credit.

I will even say that the Soul has some spunk, and I can almost find it tolerable.

[ocnblu]

The Forte LX I just helped my mom get into, when parked next to (and I am not happy to say this) a Chevrolet Cruze LS, is a nicer, more decent car for the money.  And the dash feels nice with the scallop design.

[Drew Dowdell]

I am surprised / not surprised at the Niro's performance.   I'm surprised it took off so quickly for an unknown name with little marketing, but I'm not surprised because it is a really good product for the price and target market. 

And as far as hitting the core segment out there... it's a largish compact with a "crossover" shape and it's a hybrid.  With a starting price of $23k, it's no wonder it's turning into a knock-out hit. 

[frogger]

I think the Niro was a good enough idea that now Toyota will be copying it with the next Prius-V

In another life I would pick up a two year old K900 that has depreciated a tonne...

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=472311854

 

[Drew Dowdell]

2 minutes ago, frogger said:

I think the Niro was a good enough idea that now Toyota will be copying it with the next Prius-V

In another life I would pick up a two year old K900 that has depreciated a tonne...

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=472311854

 

I keep my eyes on those K900s also. For the price you can pick them up at, they are a comfort cruiser lover's dream.

[frogger]

6 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I keep my eyes on those K900s also. For the price you can pick them up at, they are a comfort cruiser lover's dream.

SO is pretty adamant about next vehicles being AWD, cemented by our Christmas Eve drive home passing many ditched vehicles.. so I am resigned to this not happening for me.  Genesis AWD v8 not as interesting to me.

 

 

[Drew Dowdell]

8 minutes ago, frogger said:

SO is pretty adamant about next vehicles being AWD, cemented by our Christmas Eve drive home passing many ditched vehicles.. so I am resigned to this not happening for me.  Genesis AWD v8 not as interesting to me.

Aside from cost, the old Hyundai Genesis isn't the equivalent, the Equus was.  Today that would be a G90.  So in a few years you might be able to snag one of those. 

[ocnblu]

10 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I am surprised / not surprised at the Niro's performance.   I'm surprised it took off so quickly for an unknown name with little marketing, but I'm not surprised because it is a really good product for the price and target market. 

And as far as hitting the core segment out there... it's a largish compact with a "crossover" shape and it's a hybrid.  With a starting price of $23k, it's no wonder it's turning into a knock-out hit. 

27,237 sold so far this year and it's a "knock-out hit"?  LOL

[Drew Dowdell]

9 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

27,237 sold so far this year and it's a "knock-out hit"?  LOL

It went from 0 to 27,237 in about 6 months with virtually no marketing. It was introduced at the Chicago auto show in February last year and went on sale in September this year. It's already the number 3 hybrid in sales. To catch up to to number 3 in that short a time is indeed a knock out.

[balthazar]

Why is the Niro not reported by insideEVs.com?
27.2K would be #1 on the list of EVs / PHEVs in the U.S.

Edited January 6, 2018 by balthazar

[Drew Dowdell]

Most Niros are just regular hybrids, not plug-ins. While that doesn't explain why that website doesn't list them, they wouldn't stack them in their statistics using the full number of Niros sold.

[ocnblu]

I was interested in these at first.

[balthazar]

A 12/2016 article I just read stated a plug-in was due for Sept '17, that must've been delayed, no?

[Drew Dowdell]

I don't know.  I haven't been paying much attention to these.... but to go to 3rd place hybrid in less than a year is saying something.

[balthazar]

Anyone know of a source for monthly hybrid sales?

These (hybrids) aren't on my radar, I would've thought the Volt was one but in that it's propelled by electric, charged by gas & plugs in, it falls under 'PHEV'.

Edited January 6, 2018 by balthazar

[Robert Hall]

^  https://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/

[Drew Dowdell]

Again, most Niros are not plug-ins. Inside EVs won't cover those.

[Robert Hall]

Ah, didn't notice that distinction.  Weird.  Have non-plugin hybrids fallen from favor?

Edited January 6, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Drew Dowdell]

Not at all. Just more are being offered as plug-in by default.

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Not at all. Just more are being offered as plug-in by default.

Could the Plug-in Hybrids be a move to capture state and federal discounts I wonder?