Yueda Kia recently announced its market performance for August 2026, with sales reaching 19,588 units in that month, while cumulative sales from January to August climbed to 162,734 units. At the same time, the brand produced 20,600 vehicles in August, with the total production for the first eight months stable at 167,600 units. Behind this achievement is Yueda Kia's long-held "user-centric" development philosophy, as well as continuous product iteration and optimization addressing the actual needs of Chinese consumers.

While deepening its presence in the local market, Yueda Kia is also accelerating its overseas export strategy, forming a positive pattern of coordinated domestic and export development. Since launching export business in November 2018, the brand's cumulative vehicle exports have exceeded 650,600 units, generating export sales of over $7.22 billion. Its export product matrix consists of six models: EV5, Sportage, Seltos, K5, Sonet, and Rio, with market coverage spanning 92 countries and regions worldwide including Australia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, etc. Additionally, Yueda Kia has also made achievements in the parts export sector, with cumulative engine exports reaching 544,110 units, mainly sold to countries such as South Korea, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.

Of note is that the all-new Kia Seltos has recently been officially launched to the market. The model offers six configuration options, with an official guiding price range of 109,900 yuan to 149,900 yuan, and a fixed-price promotion has been introduced, reducing the selling price to 79,900 yuan to 119,900 yuan. The new car is built on the advanced 3rd generation i-GMP platform, offering two front-wheel-drive options in the powertrain: the first is a 1.5L naturally aspirated engine paired with an IVT intelligent continuously variable transmission, capable of outputting a maximum power of 115 hp and a peak torque of 144 N·m; the other is a combination of a 1.5T turbocharged engine and an 8AT automatic transmission, with its maximum power increased to 200 hp and peak torque reaching 253 N·m, to meet the driving performance needs of different consumers.

On September 8, Yueda Kia announced August 2026 sales data: sales volume was 19,588 units; cumulative sales for January to August were 162,734 units; August production was 20,600 units, with cumulative production for January to August totaling 16,700 units. Sales levels are comparable to joint venture brands such as Honda and SAIC-GM Buick at this stage. Although Yueda Kia's "presence" as a joint venture brand is not very strong, its market performance has shown a contrasting change.

Regarding exports, Yueda Kia started its export business in November 2018, making it one of the earlier joint venture automakers to explore overseas markets. As of now, Yueda Kia has cumulatively exported 650,600 complete vehicles, with export value exceeding $7.22 billion; the product lineup consists of Seltos, Sportage, Sonet, Ray, K5, and other models, serving 92 countries and regions including Australia, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, Yueda Kia exports not only complete vehicles but also engines. Its engine export sales volume is 544,110 units, targeting countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Russia.

Kia Automotive belongs to the Hyundai Motor Group. In the first half of 2026, the Hyundai Motor Group ranked third with sales of 3.579 million units.

Whether the concept of joint-venture car manufacturing is right or wrong, whether it is conservative or sluggish, perhaps it cannot be easily concluded; although the momentum of independent brand rise is very strong, the top five in the global auto sales ranking for the first half of 2026 are still established international automakers. Apart from Hyundai Motor Group, the other four are Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis Group, and General Motors; Suzuki and Nissan, which were not highly expected, are also among the top ten; of course, BYD, Geely, and Chery, three local automakers, are also on the list, but their total sales are slightly lower than Toyota's.

Cars, as one of the most complex industrial products, seem to still require sufficient accumulation.

Moreover, new energy vehicles are not yet the only option, whether in the global market or the local market. For a considerable part of car consumers, fuel-powered vehicles are still an irreplaceable option. Therefore, joint venture cars like Yueda Kia that persist in the fuel-powered vehicle camp while gradually advancing the electrification of automotive products are actually more worth attention.

Among the new cars launched recently, the most eye-catching one is Yueda Kia's all-new Seltos.

The facelifted Kia Seltos has good design aesthetics, appearing to have strong sportiness and fashion sense, embodying a "urban trendy SUV" vibe; additionally, the vehicle utilizes a high-computing chip, and its infotainment intelligence level does not lose to any new energy vehicle in the same class, even supporting some small games. At the same time, the vehicle is equipped with an L2-level assisted driving system. Only the low-spec version uses ordinary cruise control, and the cockpit design is also unique.

Regarding power, this car provides two series options: 1.5L and 1.5T.

The 1.5L version is matched with a CVT transmission. Its maximum power of 84.4kW can satisfy daily commuting; the limited-time price for this series is 79,900 to 99,900 CNY. The 1.5T version is matched with an 8AT transmission. Its maximum power reaches up to 147kW, possessing a high level among engines of the same displacement; the limited-time price for this series is 99,900 to 119,900 CNY.

Such a compact SUV is still a good family car option.

Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that in the first half of this year, domestic passenger car retail sales accumulated 8.75 million vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 20%; the fuel vehicle market encountered an "avalanche", with June retail sales plummeting 39%. The "price war" ran throughout the year, significantly compressing industry profit margins.

Amid widespread gloom, a car company submitted a "different" performance report: June sales reached 257,900 vehicles, a 15.8% month-on-month increase and 11% year-on-year increase, breaking through 20,000 vehicles monthly for 3 consecutive months; cumulative deliveries in the first half reached 118,100 vehicles, achieving both year-on-year and month-on-month growth for 2 consecutive months. It is not a new force, nor a local independent brand, but Yueda Kia.

If we elevate our focus to a global dimension, Kia's market performance is even more shocking. In the first half of 2026, Kia's global cumulative sales reached 1.631 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%, setting a new high for the first half of the year. Among them, Sportage and Seltos ranked first and second globally with 303,200 and 177,200 vehicles respectively.

Global Quality: Entering an Upward Channel

On one side is the high-singing march in the global market, on the other is the counter-attack in the Chinese market. Nowadays, Yueda Kia has already changed its thinking mode: through measures such as strengthening brand image, improving product competitiveness, expanding service channels, and optimizing user experience, showing a steady development momentum and strong corporate resilience.

In the first half of this year, Yueda Kia was the first to launch a nationwide "One-Price" car purchase policy, returning pricing power to the brand so that consumers can enjoy the bottom price upon entering the store. Taking the new Kia Sportage with global cumulative sales exceeding 8 million vehicles as an example, the "One-Price" launched in April is as low as 109,900 RMB, and the main selling model 1.5T Prestige Edition "One-Price" is only 124,900 RMB.

In addition, multiple benefits such as fuel card subsidies and purchase tax reductions have also been implemented. In return for Chinese consumers with super-value car purchase plans, Yueda Kia has effectively lowered the threshold for car purchase, making prices more transparent. Benefiting from this, the sales of multiple star models of Yueda Kia increased significantly compared to the same period last year, which also confirms the effectiveness of its nationwide "One-Price" strategy.

It is worth mentioning that the new Kia Sportage, inheriting the 33-year history and 5 generations of "Sportage", has realized 13 configuration upgrades compared to the old model in terms of styling design, space experience, smart technology, safety configuration, etc., further meeting Chinese users' needs for more comfortable and smarter travel.

Even more surprisingly, after launching for more than 100 days, the new Kia Sportage has "zero customer complaints" on new car quality. This is not relying on luck, but the power of quality control, fully confirming Yueda Kia's excellent product quality, while also highlighting Yueda Kia's third factory's globally leading manufacturing standards and quality control strength.

As a global core production base of Kia, Yueda Kia's third factory fully benchmarks against international first-class manufacturing standards, introducing advanced tools such as Kia Global Quality Management System (GQMS), MES manufacturing execution system, IQIS production completion system, etc., building a lifecycle quality management system covering R&D, manufacturing to after-sales.

"Global Quality" is the standard carved into every screw nut of Yueda Kia: using high quality, high intelligence, and high value to respond to Chinese users' diverse expectations for quality travel; relying on the globally unified R&D and manufacturing system and rigorous verification processes, letting domestic and overseas consumers share identical car-building strength.

Dual Drive: Running a Growth Curve

Domestic sales and export sales moving forward side by side is the main theme of Yueda Kia's development in the first half of this year. As of now, Yueda Kia has exported over 617,000 vehicles in cumulative, export sales exceeding 6.79 billion US dollars, building an export matrix composed of EV5, Sportage, Seltos, K5, Sonet, and Rio, covering 91 countries and regions including Australia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Engine exports were also accomplished with remarkable achievements. In June 2026, Yueda Kia exported 7,491 engines, accumulating exports of about 531,000 units, mainly sold to countries such as Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, etc.

Domestic sales stabilizing the basic block, exports opening the ceiling, this "Dual Drive" pattern can not only hedge against the price war competition pressure in the domestic existing market but also rely on scaled exports to reduce manufacturing costs, forming a steady growth loop of internal and external markets feeding each other and risk dispersion, becoming the core confidence of Yueda Kia's counter-trend racing.

In addition to holding the two growth curves of domestic stock deep cultivation and global incremental blue ocean, Yueda Kia also has remarkable achievements in channel ecosystem construction. On one hand, continuously deepening cooperation with large dealer groups represented by United Crown, Lan Chi, Jiangsu Zhixing, Guoao, Zhongchi, etc.; on the other hand, continuously strengthening the service network and promoting the downscaling of standard services.

In the first half of this year, amidst an environment of fierce price wars and continuous news of dealer network exits, Yueda Kia added 28 outlets, especially the first global SI 2.0 standard flagship store built in Guangxi with Changle Group in April, which filled the blank of high-quality travel services in the Guangxi region.

Healthy channels are the foundation of Yueda Kia's sustainable growth; while improvement in service is also one of the decisive battlefields. In the first half of this year, Yueda Kia continuously optimized the pre-sales, during-sales, and after-sales full-stage service ecosystem. In pre-sales and during-sales links, focusing on optimizing customer experience around key touchpoints such as store arrival experience, trial ride, and signing delivery; in the after-sales link, mainly focusing on service management system upgrade, service quality control optimization, service facility implementation, improving service experience.

Sports Marketing: Localization Emotional Connection

Looking at Kia's sports marketing, it exactly forms a subtle mirror echo with its domestic and foreign sales dual-wheel drive logic. In 2026, the 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup is in full swing. As an official partner cooperating with FIFA for nearly 20 years, Kia sponsored 660 operating vehicles for this event.

In addition, it also brought a series of "World Cup Joint Gifts" for Chinese consumers, and provided purchase tax subsidies and oil card/electric card gifts, etc., for the 3 "One-Price" models New Sportage, K3, and Kia Xing, showing full sincerity for Chinese consumers. This move directly converts sports heat into store traffic, making the whole chain natural.

It is worth mentioning that as a FIFA partner for 20 years, Kia has the exclusive right to select official ball boy ball girls globally. In the knockout stages of this 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup, 11-year-old girl Liu Shuying appeared as the only Chinese official ball boy/girl, becoming a vivid vignette of Kia opening up global sports resources and building a bridge for cultural exchange between Chinese and foreign teenagers.

Global IP is not label-style sponsorship, but perceivable rights implementation. The moment Kia precisely lands this scarce right of ball boy selection on Chinese people, it completes the identity translation from sponsor to dream maker, letting consumers feel the temperature of the brand.

In addition to integrating global top-tier event resources, Yueda Kia also actively cultivates China's local sports events. To date, Yueda Kia has sponsored Yancheng Marathon for 6 consecutive years and been the main sponsor of the "Jiangsu Super League" Yancheng team for 2 consecutive years, extending the brand temperature to every participant inside and outside the arena.

Local events are not participation in the form of making up numbers, but emotional anchors of regional deep cultivation. As the base of Yueda Kia, Yancheng, the essence of deep cultivation of local events is doing "Community Brand Assets", thereby realizing localization emotional connection.

Epilogue: Waiting for the Wind, Better to Be the Wind

In the first half of 2026, the Chinese auto market's cold air was chilling, but Yueda Kia told the industry with a performance report of "concurrent year-on-year and month-on-month double growth": true long-termism is not waiting for the wind, but becoming the wind.

From the record half-year sales of 1.631 million vehicles globally to the counter-attack in the Chinese market; from the nationwide "One-Price" reshaping consumer trust to export business opening the growth ceiling; from the manufacturing heritage of global quality to the worry-free service experience of the full cycle - Yueda Kia's combination of these sets of moves supports the enterprise to walk out of the trough and build a solid growth chassis.

Deeply cultivated the Chinese market for 24 years, Yueda Kia has accumulated trust from over 6.85 million users. In the future, Yueda Kia will continue to refine in dimensions such as brand value, product quality, channel network, service experience, etc., bringing travel experiences far beyond expectations to more Chinese consumers.