Kia Q4 net rises 8.5 pct on weak won, U.S. sales

Kia Corp., South Korea’s second-largest carmaker, said Friday its fourth-quarter net profit rose 8.5 percent from a year earlier on a weak won and robust sales in the United States.

Net profit for the October-December quarter rose to 1.75 trillion won (US$1.2 billion) from 1.62 trillion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing.

“A weak won, coupled with strong sales in the U.S. and a diversified power train lineup, gave a boost to the quarterly bottom line, offsetting increased incentives and other costs,” Kia said in a press release.

The dollar rose to an average of 1,396.84 won in the fourth quarter from 1,320.84 won a year earlier, data from the Bank of Korea showed earlier. A weak won drives up the value of dollar-denominated exports when converted into the local currency.

Operating profit climbed 10.2 percent to 2.71 trillion won in the fourth quarter from 2.46 trillion won a year ago.

Sales were up 11.6 percent to 27.14 trillion won from 24.32 trillion won during the same period.

For all of 2024, net income jumped 11.5 percent to 9.78 trillion won from 8.77 trillion won the previous year.

Operating profit advanced 9.1 percent on-year to 12.66 trillion won, with sales up 7.7 percent at 107.44 trillion won.

In 2025, Kia is targeting an operating profit of 12.4 trillion won on sales of 112.5 trillion won. It has also set a sales target of 3.12 million vehicles for the year, which would mark a 4.1 percent increase from 2024.

“The company will achieve an operating profit margin of 11 percent this year by improving its product mix and raising average selling prices in major markets like the U.S.,” the release said.

This year’s operating profit margin target is slightly down from the 11.8 percent Kia reported in 2024.

Faced with slowing electric vehicle (EV) sales, Kia plans to strengthen its lineup with more gasoline hybrid and other environmentally friendly models in the U.S. and Europe this year.