Kia India expects 8-10% sales growth with Seltos facelift and improved chip supplies

Kia India expects its sales to grow by 8-10 per cent this year against last year led by improvement in chip supplies and launching the new Seltos facelift in the market, as per a senior official of the company.

The South Korean carmaker sold 3.4 lakh units in the domestic and export markets last year. The automaker sells models like Carens, Sonet and Seltos in the Indian market.

Kia Seltos facelift | Image Credit: Kia 

Hardeep S Brar, Kia India's National Head (Sales and Marketing) told PTI, "So last year our domestic sales were about 2.54 lakh units while exports stood at around 80,000 units. So we did about 3.34 lakh units overall. So this year we are looking at about 8-10 per cent growth."

Kia India has outpaced the overall passenger industry growth from January-June and expects to do the same in the second half of the year as well, Brar said.  

"For the first six months, the industry has grown at 10 per cent. We have grown by 12 per cent. So like every other year we have outpaced the industry," he added.

Kia Sonet | Image Credit: Kia

Industry growth 

Brar said that the overall industry volumes this year are expected to remain in the vicinity of 40 lakh units. He added that the second half of the year will not register high growth for the industry due to the high base of last year. 

Last year, the industry volumes were around 18 lakh units in the first six months, it is around 20 lakh units this year in the January-June period, he noted.

Elaborating further, he stated that in the second half, industry volume stood at about 19.5 lakh units.

"So that means from 19.5 lakh units to 20 lakh units would be a very marginal growth... Similarly for us also the base is high but for example, if it is at 12 per cent in the first half, we would still like to grow at 8 to 10 per cent so that we can keep that pace of 4-5 per cent higher than the industry," Brar said.

The automaker is targeting about 10 per cent growth over last year and new Seltos will surely help the company to get closer to that, he added.

On semiconductor supplies, he noted that the situation is much better now as compared to the last year.

"It's not to the same extent it was last year. We have about 5-10 per cent mismatches so to say but largely it is sorted out. So not so much of a problem now," Brar said.

With improved supply, Kia is looking to produce around 3.6-3.7 lakh units this year to cater to both domestic and export demand, he said.

On the company's plans regarding the upcoming festive season, Brar said that besides the introduction of new Seltos, the company is also looking to roll out certain new trims of Carens and Sonet.

On exports, he noted that the company is exploring new markets in the Middle East, South East Asia and Latin America.

The company currently exports to around 100 countries with Mexico remaining its number one overseas market in terms of volumes. 

(With inputs from PTI)