Import automaker Kia ahead of Lexus in sales

Kia plans to add five new models by 2010.

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Kia Motors America is increasing sales as it adds more models to its lineup.

The brand is now ranked fifth among all import automakers. (It was No. 6 in 2004, but its sales are ahead of Lexus so far this year.) How big Kia has become is "a real surprise to our customers," said Peter Butterfield, president and chief executive.

U.S. sales reached a record 270,055 in 2004. After six months of 2005, Kia's sales are up 5.3 percent, putting it on a pace to top 285,000 this year.

The growth is due to more vehicles in its showroom and better quality, Butterfield said.

Quantity

In 1994, Kia had only two models: the Sportage, a small sport utility; and the Sephia, a small sedan. It still offered only those two models as recently as 1999, when it sold 135,000 vehicles. Buyers spent less than $12,000 on a Kia in 1999.

Today, a typical buyer spends more than $20,000 on his or her new Kia. The company's lineup includes four cars (Rio, Spectra, Optima, Amanti), two SUVs (Sportage, Sorento) and a minivan (Sedona).

This year, new versions of the Sportage, Sedona, Rio sedan and Rio5 wagon arrive. In 2006, a redesigned Optima comes out, and the Amanti and Sorento models get substantial revisions. And, from 2007 to 2010, Kia will add five more new models. By 2012, he said, the company will have 12 vehicles in 12 segments.