Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Friday that it
posted a record profit in 2011 thanks mainly to brisk sales in overseas
markets.
Net profit reached 3.5 trillion won (US$3.1 billion) last
year, up 30.4 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory
filing.
Sales jumped 20.6 percent on-year to 43.2 trillion won in
2011, and operating profit also shot up 41.6 percent to 3.5 trillion
won.
Kia Motors said the record-breaking performance is attributable
to robust sales of its vehicles based on an improved brand image.
"Kia
Motors posted good results thanks to enhanced market competitiveness despite the
European debt crisis and a general economic slowdown," said the carmaker in a
statement. "Our new quality cars have strengthened the company's brand image and
fueled the sales increase."
However, the bottom-line fell short of a
market consensus of 3.8 trillion won polled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial
news arm of Yonhap News Agency, and sales also failed to meet an earlier
forecast of 44.4 trillion won.
Its global sales jumped 19.2 percent
from a year earlier to 2,538,020 units in 2011, said Kia Motors. It sold some
485,000 vehicles in the Unites States, up 36.3 percent from a year earlier,
while sales in China, now the world's biggest market for automobiles, jumped
29.9 percent to 433,000 cars.
Kia Motors' domestic sales rose a mere
1.7 percent to 492,000 vehicles due to sluggish demand, it added.
For
the fourth quarter of last year, its net income dropped 3.5 percent to 790.3
billion won from a year ago. Sales rose 8.7 percent on-year to 10.9 trillion won
with sales of 684,770 vehicles. Its operating profit climbed 16.8 percent to
825.8 billion won over the September-December period.
Kia Motors said
it seeks to sell around 2,712,000 vehicles this year, with a growth rate of 9.5
percent. Its 2012 domestic sales target has been set at 500,000 units, although
the market is forecast to grow 2.2 percent on-year.
In the U.S., Kia
Motors said it plans to see a 10 percent increase this year, with the sale of
534,000 vehicles.
The company said it wants to sell 356,000 vehicles
in Europe this year, up 22.8 percent from 2011. Sales should be helped by the
release of the new C'eed small-sized family car in the region.
The K9,
Kia Motors' highly-anticipated large luxury sedan, will be unveiled in the
second quarter of this year, said the company. Kia Motors said it expects a
monthly sale of 2,000 units in South Korea.
Kia Motors, an affiliate
of industry leader Hyundai Motor Co., said it has no plans for further facility
expansion this year except for its third plant in China led by Hyundai
Motor.
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