Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Sunday cumulative sales of its K3 compact car in China surpassed the 100,000-unit mark last week thanks to its marketability and beefed-up marketing activity.

Kia Motors achieved the landmark in eight months and three weeks, the shortest period of time among the company’s passenger car models unveiled in the world’s biggest auto market.

Sales of the K3 compact sedan in China had been hovering above 10,000 units per month since November last year, a month after its debut there.

Kia Motors attributed the popularity of the K3 in China to its chic design and the company’s marketing activities targeting young Chinese.

The K3 is Kia’s new type of compact sedan to complete the company’s K series line-up of the K9, K7, K5 and K2.

In the first half of this year, Kia Motors sold 276,466 vehicles in China, up 25 percent from the same period a year earlier. The company plans to set its third plant in China in motion next year. (Yonhap News)