Kia Becomes Europe's Fastest-Growing Top 10 Car Brand — SkimNews
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- Kia recorded 377,078 European passenger car registrations between January and August 2026, up 9% year-on-year and well ahead of the overall EU+EFTA+UK market growth of 5.8%, according to ACEA data.
- Kia holds a 4.1% share of the broader European passenger car market (ninth overall) and a 4.8% share of the EV market (seventh overall) after EV registrations jumped 58% year-on-year through August.
- Kia posted its strongest gains in France (+120%), Germany (+112%), the UK (+66%), Spain (+60%) and Italy (+41%), with Europe COO Sjoerd Knipping crediting the brand's broad electrified lineup.
- Kia's EV range now spans the EV2, EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6, and EV9 plus the PV5 van, with the entry-level EV2 launching earlier this year at roughly €26,600 in Germany and £22,245 in the UK.
- Kia builds both the EV2 and EV4 at its Slovakia plant, and has no plans to bring the EV2 to the US, where it sold just over 500 EV3 units in the model's first full month on sale.
Why it matters: Kia's 9% European growth against a 5.8% market means the brand captured share well above the industry average, and its 58% EV surge in the EU contrasts with the deliberate omission of the €26,600 EV2 from the US market — a gap that keeps Kia's American EV ramp far slower than its European one.
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