Kia reported a big sales increase in February, marking the second straight month of record sales for the brand this year.
Actually, it’s a continuation of seven months of improving sales for the automaker. Aside from Ford’s first two months of 2023, it might be argued no auto company has performed better this year.
And while a vast array of products with great designs, high-end technology and reasonable prices is certainly an excellent combination, selling vehicles to the public is more than just those items — especially these days.
With inventory levels being so low for so long, ensuring you have the right vehicles in the right places to meet a still-strong demand for new cars, trucks and crossovers is critical to any automaker’s success. In the case of Kia, it’s better than any other automaker, according to the new Inventory Efficiency Index developed by data and artificial intelligence company, Cloud Theory.
Efficiency pays
Kia scored 155.6 on the company’s first Inventory Efficiency Index, which measures the relationship between a make or model’s competitive supply situation and its market share. The rest of the top 10 includes:
- Lexus — 154.4
- Toyota — 145.4
- Land Rover — 142.1
- Honda — 140.2
- Subaru — 126.1
- BMW — 123.8
- Hyundai — 115.3
- Nissan — 110
- Chevrolet — 103.5
A score of 100 indicates that an OEM is getting its fair share of sales — Volkswagen scored a 100. A score above 100 reveals that an OEM is selling its vehicles more efficiently than average, while a score below 100 uncovers a need to raise demand to meet supply.
What does it mean?
“Manufacturers with an Inventory Efficiency Index score of 100 or more have a strong overall foundation of demand that is exceeding or meeting supply, enabling them to focus on identifying opportunities to spend less in low supply/high demand situations” said Rick Wainschel, vice president, Data Science & Analytics at Cloud Theory.
He added there are still opportunity models and markets that these high-performing OEMs can identify when studying this information in more detail.
“Meanwhile, manufacturers scoring below 100 should look to this information more from the standpoint of pinpointing areas where they can shore up inefficiencies by increasing demand,” Wainschel noted.