Hyundai and Kia recorded their first quarterly sales of over 500,000 vehicles in the U.S. market during the third quarter, likely surpassing Ford to claim the third spot in the market for the first time.
On October 2, Hyundai and Kia reported that they sold a total of 506,200 vehicles in the U.S. during the third quarter, marking a 5.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Hyundai's sales rose by 3.5% to 269,541 units (including 22,645 Genesis vehicles), while Kia's sales increased by 7.8% to 236,659 units.
Ford has yet to release its September sales figures, but market research firm Cox Automotive recently projected that Ford's third-quarter sales would decline by 7.1% to 504,172 units compared to the previous year. If this holds true, the Hyundai Motor Group will rank third, following GM (669,961 units) and Toyota (633,224 units).
The strong sales in the third quarter were driven by hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which saw a 53.4% increase year-over-year, totaling 138,112 units sold (with Hyundai selling 69,776 units and Kia selling 68,336 units), setting a quarterly record.
In contrast, electric vehicle (EV) sales plummeted by 51% to just 22,311 units in the third quarter. The combined sales of hybrid and electric vehicles (xEV) increased by 18.4% year-over-year to 160,423 units.
For the third quarter, Hyundai's best-selling models were the Tucson (64,075 units), Elantra (48,764 units), and Santa Fe (39,112 units). Kia's top sellers included the Sportage (50,839 units), K4 (37,633 units), and Telluride (36,436 units).
In September alone, Hyundai sold a total of 85,502 vehicles, including 8,063 Genesis models, representing a 13.4% increase year-over-year and the highest sales figure for September on record. Kia also saw a 17.6% increase in September, selling 77,009 vehicles.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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