Seoul: Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, reported a 0.8 percent rise in sales for August compared to the same month last year, driven by an increase in domestic sales. The company, which is an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., announced that it sold a total of 253,950 vehicles in August, an increase from the 251,950 units sold in August of the previous year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the automaker experienced a 7.4 percent growth in domestic sales, reaching 43,501 units, while overseas sales saw a slight decline of 0.4 percent, totaling 209,887 units. The Sportage compact SUV led as the top-selling model with 44,969 units sold globally, followed by the Seltos subcompact with 27,805 units and the Sorento mid-sized SUV with 18,466 units.

Kia's cumulative sales for the January-August period showed a growth of 1.7 percent, amounting to 2,104,293 units, up from 2,069,415 units in the same period last year. A company official stated that Kia plans to enhance its exports by expanding its lineup of eco-friendly models.

The official noted that the ongoing global sales growth is fueled by strong demand for eco-friendly vehicles. Kia intends to sustain this growth by increasing exports of the EV4 and expanding sales of other eco-friendly models, such as the PV5 and EV5.