Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Thursday that its sales rose 3.9 percent in 2013 from a year ago on the back of solid overseas demand.

The carmaker sold a total of 2,827,321 units last year, up from 2,720,735 vehicles a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Overseas shipments led the increase, with 2,369,321 units sold, up 5.8 percent on-year, while domestic sales, affected by sluggish economic conditions, contracted 5.0 percent to 458,000 units.

Its best-selling model was the Sportage R crossover utility vehicle, with 407,587 units sold worldwide, followed by the Pride subcompact with 380,041 cars sold, the carmaker said. The Pride is sold as the Rio in some foreign markets.

Kia said its December sales jumped 10.8 percent on-year to 245,200 vehicles. Domestic sales plunged 11.8 percent to 41,021 units, but this decrease was compensated by the 16.8 percent rise in foreign sales that hit 204,179 units during the one-month period.

For 2014, the carmaker said it aims to sell 2.96 million cars, with overseas sales accounting for 2.48 million of the total. (Yonhap News)