Kia Motors is celebrating five million global cumulative unit sales of its best-selling Kia Sportage compact SUV. Launched in 1993, and spanning four generations since, the Kia Sportage has achieved this milestone on the year of its 25^th anniversary. The latest model, launched in 2016, is the most popular yet, with average global sales of 38,000 units per month in 2017.

In 2016 and 2017, the Sportage surpassed the B-segment Rio as the brand’s global best-selling model. Strong sales of the Sportage in January and February 2018—36,632 and 32,930 units respectively—contributed to the model’s production landmark.

The Sportage made its first appearance at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show, introducing the concept of the Urban SUV to consumers for the first time – it set the blueprint for a compact, practical SUV, suitable for use in a variety of environments. This first-generation Sportage recorded total lifetime sales of more than 500,000 units.

Sales of the second-generation Sportage totalled 1,223,776 units globally after seven years of production. The third-generation model surpassed one million sales in just four years, helping the Sportage reach two million cumulative sales during its sixth year in production.

The fourth and current generation Sportage features a bold, progressive design, while offering greater practicality and an array of comfort, convenience and safety technologies. Its engine and transmission line-up also provides enhanced efficiency and performance to address a broad range of customer needs.

The one-millionth fourth-generation Sportage was sold in January, after just 29 months on-sale.