The automotive industry is struggling like never before, but Kia Motors is riding out the recession better than most.

The Korean company's sales are down 6.8 percent compared with last year at this time, which compares favorably to the industry as a whole, which is experiencing a 36.5 percent drop in sales.

When you look at year-to-date statistics, Kia's sales performance is second only to Subaru.

"Kia's market share through the first five months of this year compared to last year is now 3.1 percent, and that is up a full point from a year ago. That's just remarkable," Tom Libby, an independent auto analyst based in Detroit, said.

Industry analysts credit Kia's relative success to its decision to replace models at a rate that other companies find tough to match.

"It's a huge advantage. The more frequently you replace your products, the fresher the products are. And with automobiles, there's definitely a correlation between freshness of products and sales," Mr. Libby said.

Kia officials say that 18 months from now, the oldest product in the company's product line will be its full-size sport utility vehicle, the Borrego, which was introduced last year. If that's the case, look for at least a new Sorrento, Optima, Rondo, Amanti and Sportage by the end of 2010.

Only three months after its introduction, the Kia Soul, a subcompact, was in second place in its market segment for the month of May, with 3,855 sales, Mr. Libby said. That figure trounced the Scion xB, which had 2,216 sales, the Nissan Cube at 1,745, Suzuki SX4 at 1,146 sales and Scion xD, with 1,065 sales.

What's even better for Kia is that the popular Soul is opening up new markets in the so-called first tier cities of the Northeast and West Coast, along with Chicago and Miami. That means that future Kia models are likely to get a lot more consideration in those markets than they have before, since Kia's traditional strength has been in rural and midsize markets.

So why is the Soul so hot?

"It's in harmony with the overall image of Kia," Mr. Libby said. "Young, sporty and affordable. It complements the brand very well, as well as the demographics of the brand. They're getting young buyers who want something affordable but want something a bit unique and different, too. And it's also priced below the Toyotas."

"The difficult times, too have helped ramp up the public's considering and purchasing Kias," Tom Loveless, Kia's vice president of sales, said. "All of a sudden we have the recipe that's starting to pay off."

He said a big help to Kia has been its affiliations with the National Basketball Association. "We've been very consistent in our advertising with the partnership. The NBA has done wonderfully for us. It's about youth, multicultural diversity, athleticism, all really good words to describe Kia."

All of this is a far cry from where the company was 15 years ago when it arrived in the United States.

"Back then, our vehicles were cheap and had poor quality, and that resulted in a concerted effort in Korea to turn that around," said Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing. "Safety then became a priority, and it eventually resulted in us being known as a leader in safety."

But dealing with quality and safety were only the first steps.

"We saw that technology had become more important for consumers, which is why we began to add features like satellite radio, Bluetooth, and other forms of newer technology to our cars." he said.

But style sells, and Kia knows it.

"We decided our cars were both boring and nondescript, so we focused on that by hiring Peter Schreyer [chief designer at Kia]. Under his leadership, Kia's cars have become much fresher looking, and they now all have a family resemblance," Mr. Sprague said.

" Next we will focus on powertrains heavily -- hybrids, fuel cells and hydrogen technologies."

The turnaround in Kia's image has been startling.

"Their credibility has gone up so much with their [10 year, 100,000 mile limited powertrain] warranty, quality and the numbers of them on the road. They have established themselves. There is only a very small trailing portion of the public that may not consider them, but even that number is diminishing," Mr. Libby said.

Still, there is work left to do.

"Kia has to further improve [its] dealer network and strengthen [its] brand so that there's fewer defections among Kia customers when other products come in. You do that with customer service and satisfaction," Mr. Libby said.