March sales were up 1.5% on the same month last year, which saw Kia deliver 14,787 cars to customers. This compares to an overall rise of 6.0% in total UK car registrations.

Kia also set a new first-quarter record with 22,265 sold in the first three months – compared to 21,608 in 2014 – a 3% increase.

Paul Philpott, president and CEO of Kia Motors (UK) Limited, said: “We have seen for some time that company buyers have had the confidence to go out into the market and invest in their transport arrangements. Additionally, user-choosers continue to look for vehicles that suit their particular needs and they have helped keep Sportage at the top of our best-seller list.

“The current market position has been helped by the strength of sterling against the Euro and some of the main European brands have been in a fortunate position to direct their production and their effort towards the UK. This has meant there have been very good deals to be had – especially for fleet customers.

“We at Kia don’t have all of those advantages as much of our production comes from Korea, where the Won is very strong, but we have been able to benefit from our strong, profitable and stable dealer network. We have worked closely with our dealers for a long time now to ensure that they have the right people and the right talents so that they can offer a truly excellent service to our business customers. I am very confident that our orderly approach to supply and pricing and our dealers focus on customer service will keep Kia growing throughout this year in line with our ambitions.”