Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Wednesday that its first-quarter net profit increased 4.6 % from a year earlier, driven by strong demand for its SUVs and newly launched models.

    Net income came to 944.6 billion won (US$822.7 million) during the January-March period compared with a profit of 903.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

    Operating income also jumped 23.8 % on-year to 633.6 billion won and sales rose 13.2 % to 12.65 trillion won, it said. "The won's descent against the dollar, impact from newly-launched models such as the Sportage and K7 and expanded sales of our recreational vehicles were behind the marked improvement in profit," the company said in an emailed press release.