Kia Motors, which entered the Indian market officially last year has become the sixth-largest vehicle exporter in India. According to the data shared by the manufacturer, Kia exported as many as 29,819 units from India to various countries. Out of the total number, 20,293 units are of Kia Seltos while the rest are of the Sonet. Kia only offers three cars in the Indian market but exports the Seltos and Sonet to various different countries.
Kia operates from the Anantpur near Hyderabad and it has a massive capacity. The manufacturer has a capacity of 3 lakh units per year. However, Kia is yet to utilise the full capacity of its plant. Kia is expected to reach 100% capacity by 2021. It should be noted that Kia announced at the time of the launch that they will launch a new model in the Indian market every six months.
Once Kia reaches its maximum capacity in its Anantpur facility, the export numbers are expected to rise substantially. Kia can even become third-largest car exporter in India after the likes of Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki India. Kia will also increase the manufacturing of the Sonet, which is currently under high demand in India and there is a long waiting period on the car. The present production numbers of Kia is not known at the moment.
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Hyundai remains the top exporter in India with as many as 44,271 units exported in the April – October 2020 period. Maruti Suzuki is the second largest exporter with 41,011 units in the same period while Ford is in the third position with 27,926 units. Volkswagen and GM are ahead of Kia Motors in the export numbers but that is likely to change in the coming times.
Kia exports the Seltos to over 40 countries around the world while the newly launched Sonet is expected to reach over 70 countries around the world. The all-new Kia Sonet was launched earlier this year in the Indian market and it has extremely high in demand. There is a waiting period of weeks and even months depending on the location and engine-transmission option chosen by the buyer.
Kia entered the Indian market with the all-new Seltos, which became a best-selling vehicle in the segment for many months before the launch of the all-new Creta. Kia then launched the all-new Carnival MPV in different seating options and it is currently the brand’s most expensive car available in the Indian market. The Sonet takes on the likes of all-new Hyundai Venue, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, Tata Nexon and the likes and became the most affordable vehicle in the segment with a starting price of just Rs 6.8 lakh, ex-showroom.
Kia is one of the youngest manufacturers in the Indian market and has already announced that they are in profit in India. Kia is expected to launch many more all-new vehicles in the Indian market in the coming months and one of them will be an electric car too.
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The post Kia Motors becomes India's 6th largest car exporter despite COVID lockdown first appeared on Cartoq.
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