Kia sells its millionth car in Oz

KIA has welcomed its one-millionth customer who this week took delivery of a Tasman X-Pro dual-cab ute from Queensland dealership Motorama Kia Moorooka.

It has been 37 years since Kia Australia – then Kia Motors Australia – started in Australia as a direct subsidiary of the factory in 2006.

The Tasman’s owners are small business owners Andrea and James Allendorf of Internal Demolitions.

Kia’s official factory start in Australia may have been in 2006, but Australian new car buyers were first introduced to Kia in 1988 when private distributors Itochu and Ateco imported the Kia Rocsta.

It took another 30 years – in 2018 – for Kia to celebrate 500,000 sales. Through accelerated product and brand development, it then took only seven years for Kia Australia to achieve their next major milestone of one-million Australian sales.

Kia has gone on to achieve a Top 3 sales ranking in 2022 and in 2024, it surpassed 80,000 sales in a single year for the first time.

Kia Australia has a sales projection in 2025 of 90,000 sales representing a 267 per cent increase from the 33,736 examples sold only a decade earlier, in 2015.

In recognition of the momentous occasion, Dennis Piccoli (COO Kia Australia), Andrew Savvas, (CEO, Motorama), Joel Mullins (dealer principal, Motorama Kia Moorooka), Darren Lockyer and Pat Rafter (Kia ambassadors) joined the significant event.

“The Kia brand has gone from strength to strength, thriving in a very competitive and challenging local market,” said Kia Australia chief operating officer Dennis Piccoli.

“The products have evolved, perceptions of the brand have changed, and these two factors have played an important role in Kia’s continuing growth.

“With an exciting lineup of new products still to come, this is just the beginning.”

Kia Australia’s CEO Damien Meredith said: “Reaching one-million new car sales is a testament to the hard work and loyalty that each of our dealer network partners has placed in the Kia brand.

“We certainly couldn’t reach this milestone without our customers from over the years, and we thank you for your trust in choosing a Kia model as your new car purchase.”

On recognition of the millionth milestone, Mr Allendorf, who owns a family of Kias, was both overjoyed and privileged to play his part in the occasion.

“Our first Kia purchase was a Kia Carnival, and this (Tasman) is now our fifth Kia in the family,” he said.

“True story, we didn’t even test drive the Tasman. We drove past Motorama and then went and sat in one, and knew we wanted it. Yeah, we have plenty of confidence in it (in the Kia brand).

“We’re massive Broncos fans so to get a sponsorship for our small business for simply buying a Tasman is pretty cool.”

In celebration of the milestone, the Brisbane Broncos, who hold Kia Australia as their major partner, gifted Internal Demolitions a one-year sponsorship of the six-time premiership-winning NRL club.

In a first-of-its-kind sporting agreement, Internal Demolitions will receive signage, ticketing and merchandise for the 2026 season.

Kia said much of its sales success was attributed to the introduction of an industry-leading seven-year warranty in 2014; a highly regarded local tuning program led by renowned Australian engineer Graeme Gambold; a refreshed brand identity in 2021; and a dedicated national dealer network.

Capitalising on that foundation has been the brand’s multi-award-winning vehicles, from the micro segment leading Picanto to Australia’s best-selling people-mover the Carnival, a growing electrified line-up and the recently launched Tasman LCV.