Seoul: Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, reported a 0.5 percent decline in its sales for October compared to the previous year, attributing the decrease to weaker domestic demand. The company sold 263,904 vehicles in October, a slight drop from 265,344 units in the same month last year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Kia, which operates as a smaller affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., experienced a significant decline in domestic sales, which fell by 13.1 percent to 40,001 units from 46,025. However, overseas sales saw a modest rise of 2.1 percent, increasing to 223,014 units from 218,389 over the same period. The monthly sales figure included 889 special-purpose vehicles, marking a 4.4 percent decrease from 930 units a year ago.

A Kia spokesperson explained that the decline in domestic sales was partly due to fewer working days caused by the weeklong Chuseok holiday. Despite the dip in domestic sales, the company noted that strong sales of recreational models, such as the Sportage and Seltos SUVs, bolstered its overseas performance.

From January to October, Kia's cumulative sales rose by 2 percent, reaching 2,636,577 vehicles compared to 2,584,659 in the same period last year. Domestic sales saw a slight increase of 1.8 percent to 453,943 units from 445,925, while overseas sales grew by 2.1 percent to 2,178,148 from 2,133,804. Sales of special-purpose vehicles fell by 9 percent to 4,486 from 4,930 during the same period.