SEOUL: Kia Motors said quarterly profit rose 91 percent as sales revenue and volume increased in South Korea and overseas amid higher vehicle prices. Kia Motors, maker of the Sorento crossover and Optima sedan, earned 953.2 billion won ($889 million) in the three months ended March 31, it said Friday. That compared with net profit of 498.5 billion won a year earlier. Kia Motors Corp. is South Korea's second-largest automaker behind Hyundai Motor Co. Together the two companies form the world's fifth-largest automotive group. Kia's first-quarter sales rose 37 percent to 10.7 trillion won. Vehicle sales totaled 619,089 during the first quarter, up 30 percent from the year before, Kia said. Domestic sales rose 20 percent, exports gained 37 percent and sales from Kia's overseas factories increased 29 percent. Average selling prices for Kia's vehicle rose 4.5 percent in South Korea and 10 percent for exports, the company said. The company also said that its bottomline was boosted by gains in equity investments totaling 41 billion won in South Korean auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Steel and Kia's joint venture in China. Shares in Kia fell 3.5 percent to close Friday at 76,500 won. Still, the company's stock price has surged 52 percent so far this year. Kia's results came a day after Hyundai Motor said net profit rose 46 percent to 1.88 trillion won and sales increased 21 percent to 18.2 trillion won. Hyundai and Kia have both pursued aggressive overseas expansion. Hyundai has factories in China, India, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Montgomery, Alabama in the United States and Russia and is building one in Brazil. Kia, meanwhile, has plants in China, Slovakia and the United States in West Point, Georgia.
