Kia's March sales fall 6.4 pct on virus impact

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker by sales, said Wednesday its sales fell 6.4 percent last month from a year earlier on weak overseas sales amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Kia sold 226,960 vehicles in March, down from 242,370 units a year ago, due to sharply reduced demand amid growing fears over COVID-19, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales rose 15 percent on-year to 51,008 units last month from 44,233. But overseas sales fell 11 percent to 175,952 autos from 198,137 during the same period, it said.

Last month, Kia suspended most of its production facilities in major markets, such as the United States and Europe. The suspension affected the monthly sales results.

From January to March, sales declined 0.9 percent to 644,102 autos from 649,896 in the year-ago period.

The maker of the K5 sedan and the Sorento sport utility vehicle has eight domestic plants -- two in Gwangmyeong, three in Hwaseong and three in Gwangju -- and seven overseas ones -- three in China and one each in the U.S., Slovakia, Mexico and India. Their overall capacity is 3.84 million units.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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