Kia Motors announced that TianLiMa, the company's first compact passenger car made specifically for the China market with its joint venture partner Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motors, has captured 10.1 percent of the country's compact car market according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Sales of the TianLiMa reached 36,508 units in the first six months of this year (an increase of 67.6 percent over the same period last year), making it the best-selling car among the 23 vehicles in the 1,300cc-1,600cc class of 2004 in the world's fastest-growing auto market. Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motors also entered the top 10 in sales among the 40 Chinese automakers during the first half.

Kia Motors Executive Vice President and COO Yong-Hwan Kim had this to say about the accomplishment: "TianLiMa's impressive success in this dynamic market of the future is an affirmation of our global strategy of producing locally and thinking globally. We have high expectations for China, and with the addition of the new 100,000 unit capacity facility in Jiangsu Province, we will have the ability to meet rising consumer demand for Kia through increased production volumes."

Last week, Kia commenced China sales of its Carnival minivan, which is being produced on a knock-down basis in Yancheng city, Jiangsu Province. Kia plans to sell 80,000 units of the TianLiMa and Carnival in China this year, up 56.8 percent from last year's sales.