SEOUL: South Korea's second largest automaker, Kia Motors, said Friday it posted a record profit last year thanks to brisk overseas sales and increased returns in investment in affiliated firms.
Net profit surged 30.4 percent from the previous year to 3.5 trillion won ($3.1 billion) in 2011, the company said in a statement.
Sales jumped 20.6 percent on-year to 43.2 trillion won in 2011, with operating profit up 41.6 percent to 3.5 trillion won.
It sold 2.48 million cars last year, up 18.6 percent, thanks to solid sales of new models and the company's improved brand image, the automaker said.
Overseas sales were particularly brisk despite the eurozone crisis and the global economic slowdown, it said.
Sales in the United States surged 36.3 percent to 485,000 cars last year while domestic sales crept up a mere 1.7 percent to 492,000.
Sales in China surged 29.9 percent to 433,000, while those in the European market increased 12.2 percent to 290,000. Sales in other regions rose 18.4 percent to 778,000.
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