The global recession doesn't seem strong enough to stop Kia's momentum as the South Korean automaker announced today that global sales figures for passenger cars and commercial vehicles for November 2009 have recorded a total of 152,826 units sold. This represents an increase of 53.2 per cent over the same month a year ago.

Hyoung-Keun Lee, President Kia Motors Corporation, said: "November has proven to be another tremendously successful month for Kia. This month we saw growth across all markets and we will seek to continue to satisfy customers with our ongoing rollout of new, stylish and fuel efficient products, including the recently launched Cadenza."

Hyundai's sister company said that during the first eleven months of the year (from January through November), the firm's global sales increased by 17.0 per cent year-on-year to 1,489,204 units.

Kia's highest gains during the first eleven months of the year were in China as the company recorded a 65.2 per cent increase with 221,722 units sold to date.

In other markets, Kia saw a YTD sales increase of 26.8 per cent (366,229 units sold) in Korea, 14.7 per cent (275,105 units sold) in general markets and 9.5 per cent (322,488 units sold) in North America.

In 2009, the firm's best selling model in international markets has been the C-segment Forte, also known as Spectra or Cerato in certain markets, with 269,864 units sold.

The Forte is followed by the B-segment Rio and Sportage 4x4 with 159,385 and 157,312 units sold respectively, while the European only Cee'd comes in Forth with 114,498 units sold.

The Korean firm's range (depending on the market) will be enhanced with new models in 2010 including the recently revealed Cadenza mid-size sedan and the Venga mini MPV.