SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — Kia Motors, South Korea’s second-biggest automaker, posted earnings growth last year thanks to strong demand for new models and robust sports utility vehicle (SUV) sales, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday.
Operating profit rose 4.6 percent to 2.46 trillion won (2.13 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016 on revenue of 52.71 trillion won, up 6.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with its parent company Hyundai Motor’s operating profit that tumbled 18.3 percent.
Kia’s car sales in the domestic market rose 1.2 percent last year thanks to demand for new models such as K7.
The No.2 carmaker’s exports plunged 15.1 percent on labor strikes, but sales in cars produced in overseas plants increased 10.7 percent.
In the United States, Kia’s auto sales gained 3.5 percent as demand for Sportage SUV model advanced as well as for K3 and Pride, while Sportage demand raised Kia’s car sales in Europe by 13.1 percent last year.
During the October-December quarter, Kia’s operating profit added 3.5 percent from a year earlier to 532.2 billion won. Revenue rose 1.0 percent to 12.91 trillion won, but net income tumbled 25.7 percent to 320 billion won.
(Photo:autoexpress)
