Kia Motors Hits All-Time High U.S. August Sales... Hyundai Motor Company Sees Slight Decline

[Financial News] Kia Motors Corporation recorded its highest-ever monthly sales in the U.S. market last August. In the same month, Hyundai Motor Company’s U.S. sales decreased slightly.
Kia Motors Corporation’s U.S. subsidiary announced on the 1st (local time) via a press release on its website that it sold 83,793 vehicles in the U.S. in August, breaking its all-time sales record since entering the U.S. market. The previous record was 83,007 vehicles, set in August of last year. Kia Motors Corporation’s sales increased by 1% year over year.
Cumulative sales from January to August this year reached 590,377 units, a 3% increase compared with the same period last year. This was also the company’s highest-ever performance since entering the North American market.
The Kia Sportage accounted for the largest share of sales by model. Kia Sportage sales last month reached 18,723 units, a 4% increase compared with the same month last year. Kia K4 and Kia Telluride each sold more than 12,000 units, while Kia Seltos notably contributed to overall performance by selling 9,214 units, a 53% increase compared with the same month last year.
As hybrid models attracted attention amid high oil prices, sales of the hybrid Kia Sportage increased by 40%, while sales of the Kia Sorento and Kia Carnival rose by 22% and 15%, respectively.
Eric Watson, vice president of sales at Kia Motors Corporation’s U.S. subsidiary, said, “Consumer interest in the Kia brand and its various models is growing.” He added, “Sales growth for the Kia Telluride is also continuing, and with the full-scale launch of the all-electric Kia EV3, we expect this growth momentum to continue through 2027.”
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Company’s U.S. subsidiary announced in a press release posted on its website on the 1st that August sales had declined. Hyundai Motor Company sold 86,977 vehicles in the U.S. in August, a 2% decrease compared with the same month last year. Although Hyundai Tucson and Hyundai Santa Fe sales rose 18% and 5%, respectively, from the previous year to reach all-time highs, sales of Hyundai Palisade, one of the company’s key models, fell 18%, while Hyundai Ioniq 5 and other models also posted weak results.
Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor Company’s U.S. subsidiary, said, “It was difficult to compare performance with the same period last year because there were early electric-vehicle purchases in August before the subsidy benefits ended, and the Labor Day holiday was also included.”


[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter