Most car companies around the world will have been extremely glad to see the end of 2009 and would probably prefer not to talk too much about it. However this is not the case for Kia who had a stunning year both across Europe and within the U.K. Kia Motors U.K. Ltd managed to break the 50,000 units mark for the first time ever and actually managed to sell 50, 636 vehicles. This is a record both for the U.K. and for Europe. Kia’s previous highest figure in the U.K. was 33,149 vehicles in 2004. 2008 car sales of 31,323 meant that Kia achieved its highest market share to date of 1.8 percent. However 2009 saw that market share rise to 2.2 percent of the non-scrappage market and 2.5 percent when scrappage is taken into account.

Managing director, Michael Cole has admitted that as with other car makers the government’s scrappage scheme has helped Kia to perform better in a difficult market. However he goes on to point out that it is also a testament to the quality of the vehicles and a higher profile with buyers that made 2009 such a good year. Looking forward to 2010 Cole has said that he expects things to get a little more difficult because of the end of the scrappage scheme. He is however confident that Kia can hold on to their share of the market. He says he is looking forward to the launch of Kia’s stylish new Venga model in February and says that he predicts overall sales to be healthy at around 40,000 vehicles for the year.