The Kia Sportage has been crowned the UK’s best-selling SUV and second best-selling car of any make or model in 2024, with 47,163 units sold of the popular family car, according to full year results published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Kia’s total volume in 2024 reached 112,252 units sold, with a market share of 5.7%, making Kia the fourth best-selling brand overall – an impressive new record. Importantly, Kia’s sales mix of electric and electrified models ensured it was on track to achieve the inaugural ZEV mandate target.

In the year that saw England reach the UEFA Euro 2024 final, Paris host the Olympics again after a 100-year wait, and the return of a Labour Government, the Kia Sportage once again proved to be Kia’s most popular model. The family SUV made up around 42% of Kia’s total sales, thanks to its enduring appeal and range of efficient and electrified powertrains.

Combined, Kia’s three Compact SUVs – the Sportage, Niro and XCeed – easily made Kia the best-selling brand in this extremely competitive segment. Combined sales of these three models totalled 72,836, giving Kia a domineering 12.6% overall share of the C-SUV market.

Kia’s Eco models (fully electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid), accounted for half (50%) of total sales (56,467), ensuring Kia ended the year as the second best-selling brand for electrified models.

While the Sportage and Niro continued to be the most popular models for Kia in the UK, the Ceed family (Ceed, Ceed Sportswagon, XCeed, ProCeed) and Picanto rounded out Kia’s big-four, combined with Sportage and Niro accounting for around 83% of the brand’s 2024 sales (see figure 1).

A bumper year of records, 2024 saw Kia achieve record sales months in February, April, June, July, August, September and October. In addition, these months contributed to record sales periods across Q1, Q2, H1, Q3, Q4, H2 and the entire year. 2024 was also a record year for hybrid sales, plug-in hybrid sales, and electrified sales.

New Additions

Kia’s fully electric models, the new EV6, EV9 and Niro EV, welcomed a new addition to the family in November with the launch of the EV3. This latest model arrived just as Kia celebrated a decade of EVs in the UK, following in the footsteps of the original fully electric first-generation Soul EV, launched in November 2014.

In addition, Kia launched new versions of the Picanto and Sorento – the brand’s smallest car and largest non-electric SUV respectively.

President and CEO of Kia UK, Paul Philpott, commented: “2024 has been yet another fantastic year for Kia. I couldn’t be prouder of the results and the dedication shown by our dealer partners and staff who have all worked tirelessly to put customers first and achieve another record sales year."

“Despite various challenges throughout 2024 and the first year of the new ZEV Mandate regulation, Kia UK achieved record upon record. This shows the true demand for all Kia vehicles from UK customers, including our award-winning line-up of fully electric models, and the trust customers have in our brand."

“2025 brings a new set of challenges and opportunities, Kia is braced to build on the exceptional results of last year with significant updates to the product offering and firm plans to boldly venture into the commercial vehicle market.”

Awards Aplenty

Kia won no fewer than 68 awards throughout 2024 for its products. These included high praise for the EV9, which stood out with an impressive 23 awards in the year, including ‘UK Car of the Year 2024’, ‘World Car of the Year 2024’, and ‘Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year 2024’. Despite only launching in November, the EV3 has already picked up several notable awards, including ‘Car of the Year’ from Electrifying.com and Top Gear’s ‘Crossover of the Year’.

Kia’s products clearly resonated with customers and media alike, but the company itself was no stranger to coming out on top. The National Franchised Dealers’ Association’s (NFDA) twice-yearly Dealer Attitude Surveys saw Kia named the number one franchise by dealers in both April and October, marking a winning streak of four surveys in a row and a top-three ranking in the past 17 successive NFDA surveys.

Kia UK’s 2024 In Brief

Kia hit the ground running in January 2024, revealing three ‘Platform Beyond Vehicle’ (PBV) concepts at CES, Las Vegas – destined to become Kia’s first fully electric light commercial vehicles (eLCVs).

Kia UK also renewed its long-standing partnership with Surrey County Cricket Club and the Kia Oval for a further five years, and opened the Kia Academy; an all-new state-of-the-art training centre, in Derby.

The company furthered its membership of the Automotive 30% Club as a Silver member, to continue to lead on equality, diversity and inclusion – extending across the business.

In March the EV9 earned its World and UK Car of the Year accolades. In the same month, Kia UK became a Gold Carbon Literate Organisation. Kia UK was also officially named one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ 2024 by Great Place To Work®.

Kia sold its 1.5 millionth car in the UK in April, a Kia EV6 ‘GT-Line S’ in Yacht Blue, some 33 years after the first Kia Pride was sold in the UK. Meanwhile, Kia was headline sponsor of Grand Designs Live, in London.

Kia Rental celebrated its 10th anniversary in June, with the service growing to 28 locations throughout the UK with an effective rental fleet of more than 1,400 cars. The month also saw Kia launch EV3 Electric Experience events across its entire dealer network, showcasing the new model to the public across a three-month period.

In July, the Picanto celebrated its 20th sales year, having first been introduced to the UK market in the same year that Mark Zuckerberg first launched Facebook. Since its introduction, Kia has sold more than 270,000 examples of the Picanto, and the model has seen three all-new generations and four mid-life facelifts.

August saw Kia renew its love for film with a fresh partnership with independent cinema specialist Digital Cinema Media (DCM) and a new partnership with Pearl & Dean.

September saw the European debut of the Concept PV5 van including notable specification reveals, such as the inclusion of a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty as standard in the UK.

Following a string of awards throughout the latter part of the year, Kia’s first electric van, the PV5, won its first UK award as the ‘One to Watch’ at the 2025 What Van? Awards. At the same time, the first EV3 UK customer orders started delivery in time for Christmas.