Kia joins UK rivals in sales surge as it nears £3bn mark

Turnover at the UK and Ireland arm of South Korean car making giant Kia accelerated closer to the £3bn mark during its latest financial year.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House have revealed that the Surrey-headquartered firm’s sales grew from £2.13bn to £2.69bn in 2023.

Over the same 12 months, Kia’s pre-tax profit dipped slightly from £69.7m to £67.9m.

Kia’s market share fell from 6.2 per cent to 5.7 per cent in the year but its new car registrations grew from 100,191 to 107,765.

The company’s UK revenue rose from £1.9bn to £2.4bn in the year while its European sales also grew from £185.7m to £243.6m over the same period.

The latest results for Kia in the UK come after similar sales successes for its rivals in the country.

Sales success for Kia’s UK rivals

City A.M. has previously reported how Volvo’s UK sales jumped closer to the £2bn mark after another record-breaking year.

The division, which is headquartered in Berkshire, reported a revenue of £1.7bn for 2023, up from £1.4bn.

Its pre-tax profit also increased from £5.1m to £6.7m over the same period.

Sales at the UK arm of car making giant Toyota also jumped by almost £600m to pass £3.5bn during its latest financial year.

The Surrey-headquartered company’s revenue for the year to 31 March, 2024, increased from £2.9bn to £3.5bn, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.

The new results also show that its pre-tax profit dipped from £17.8m to £11.5m in the year.

In July this year it was also revealed that sales at the UK arm of car manufacturer Renault had accelerated past £2bn in 2023.

The firm had previously reported a turnover of £1.5bn in 2022 but its pre-tax loss decreased year on year to £32.7m from £47.2m in the 12 months before.

In April, accounts showed that the continued popularity of Nissan’s Qashqai helped the Japanese giant’s UK sales jump past the £5bn mark.

Based out of its Sunderland factory, Nissan’s UK arm reported its sales increased from £3.6bn in the year to March 31, 2023, while its pre-tax profits went from £35.6m to £31.9m.

Nissan’s UK accounts had been due to be filed with Companies House by the end of 2023 but were published more than four months late.