South Korea’s second largest carmaker Kia Motors said Friday its net profit more than quadrupled in the first quarter to March this year, thanks to strong sales at home and abroad.
Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., said it earned 398.5 billion won (358 million dollars) in the three months ended March 31, up from 97.3 billion won in the same period last year.
“Strong demand for new models such as the K7 sedan and the Sorento R sport utility vehicle and increased sales in the United States, China and Russia drove profit and sales higher,” a company spokeswoman said.
First-quarter operating profit also surged more than three-fold to 309.8 billion won as sales rose 39 percent to 4.86 trillion won.
The country’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor, on Thursday reported its net profit jumped almost five-fold to to an all-time record 1.12 trillion won (1.0 billion dollars) in the same period on the back of strong sales abroad.
