Dongfeng Yueda Kia, Kia Motors’ car joint venture in China, said April sales recovered to year-ago levels of 23,534 after a steep decline in the first quarter.
The new-generation K3 sedan and three crossovers — the KX3, KX5 and Sportage — last month generated more than 80 percent of the Korean automaker’s volume.
The KX3 alone contributed sales of 7,627, or 32 percent of April volume, the company said.
With production and sales disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, sales at Dongfeng Yueda Kia tumbled 44 percent to 17,626 in March.
In the first quarter, deliveries slumped 48 percent to 43,152.
Dongfeng Yueda Kia, based in the east China city of Yancheng, is a three-way partnership of Kia and two Chinese companies — Dongfeng Motor Group and local investment company Jiangsu Yueda Investment Co.
The joint venture has operated well below production capacity since 2017.
Its two plants in Yancheng can build up to 750,000 vehicles a year. But in 2019, sales slipped 22 percent to less than 290,000.