Kia's (KRX:000270) revenue rose 12.6% in the second quarter of 2026 to 33.037 trillion won, boosted by strong demand for its vehicles overseas, pushing overall volume sales to a new high.
The South Korean carmaker, owned by Hyundai Motor Group, sold a total of 851,639 vehicles in the April-June period, up 4.5% from a year earlier, according to a press release on Friday.
The performance was boosted by strong demand for Kia cars overseas. Domestic sales only accounted for 18.2% at 154,816 units, while overseas sales made up 81.8% of Kia's overall sales volume at 696,823 units.
"Although global industrial demand declined by 3.8% due to political instability in the Middle East and weakened purchasing sentiment in the Chinese market, Kia overcame these adverse conditions head-on and achieved record sales," the company said.
Kia attributed the performance to its electrified model lineup, among other factors. Retail sales of electrified vehicles jumped 60% year over year to 296,000 units.
Attributable net profit rose 2.6% in the second quarter to 2.328 trillion won from 2.269 trillion won a year earlier. Operating profit, however, narrowed 4.9% to 2.629 trillion won, which Kia attributed to aggressive pricing and incentive policies to counter Chinese EV brands at home and in Western European markets.
Looking ahead, Kia expects to achieve "solid performance" in the second half and meet its annual guidance. In January, Kia said it expects to hit 3.35 million in global unit sales this year, up 6.8% from 2025.
Full-year operating profit is forecast to reach 10.2 trillion won, while revenue is predicted to hit 122.3 trillion won.
Kia's shares tumbled 13% in late-afternoon trade on Friday.
