Scrappage Scheme Boosts Sales For Kia And Mazda

With sales reaching 9,772 in September, Kia Motors (UK) Ltd. has hit a new record for the brand in any European market. No Kia subsidiary or distributor in Europe has ever sold so many new cars in one month throughout the brand's history and with total sales for the year passing 34,700, the UK performance has overtaken Kia Motors Deutschland – traditionally the biggest market in Europe.

The result gives Kia a 2.66 per cent market share in the UK – and a 3.73 per cent share of the retail market in September – both new records for Kia. Kia's Picanto was the runaway leader in terms of sales, with 3,395 registered during the month. Rio was hot on its heels with 2,066 sales followed by the cee'd family at 1,592 – before the new model introduction from 1 October and Sportage at 792.

Michael Cole, managing director said: "It would be wrong to say that the Government's scrappage scheme hasn't helped us and in particular Picanto has proved very popular amongst those trading in 10 year old cars. But our September performance and our year-to-date result cannot be attributed to scrappage alone.

“People are looking for attractive, quality products at sensible prices and currently the Kia range provides exactly that,” he added.

Success too for Mazda

September proved to be a good month too for Mazda, as Britain became the largest European market for the Japanese brand with a record sales volume of 11,372, and a market share of 3.0 per cent. Once again, quality, reliability and an affordable price were cited as the reasons for the sales boost.

The September total of 11,372 sales is an increase of nearly 900 units (8.3 per cent) over the previous highest month in March 2008 when the marque achieved sales of 10,497 units. It is also the biggest single month for Mazda since the marque arrived in the UK back in the 1960’s. “This has been a difficult year for the industry,” said Jeremy Thomson, managing director Mazda UK. “To put the September sales achievement into perspective it is just 4,488 sales short of the full year volume in 2001 when we took over the business.

“While this is a reason for celebration at Mazda we recognise that the recovery in the car industry is still fragile, we have to work hard to continue our success but we are aiming to finish the year as the third best year ever for Mazda in the UK.”