Kia Outsold Hyundai in October

Kia America sold 80,008 vehicles in October, 6,556 more than its sister brand Hyundai, as a 63 percent jump in Telluride sales gave Kia its sixth straight record month. The Sportage was the best-selling vehicle at either brand, and the Telluride outsold the Hyundai Palisade by more than 3,000 units.

The total was Kia’s best October ever and 16 percent above its previous October record of 69,002, set a year ago. Retail sales rose 20 percent to an October record of 68,926, hybrid sales rose 114 percent and sales of all electrified models rose 112 percent. Through ten months Kia has sold 747,394 vehicles, up from 705,150, which keeps Hyundai ahead for the year at 770,916 but puts Kia on course for what the company calls a fourth straight annual record.

Kia released the figures on November 3, the same day Hyundai’s own October release showed 73,452 sales. The Telluride sold 14,009 units, its best month ever, against 10,840 for the Palisade, and the Sportage’s 17,977 topped both the Hyundai Santa Fe at 17,959 and the Tucson at 17,808, which reverses the pattern of a September in which the Tucson beat the Sportage by more than 7,000 units.

"With six consecutive months of record-breaking sales, Kia is accelerating toward a fourth straight annual sales record, powered by the strength of our world-class model lineup and our nationwide network of retail partners," said Eric Watson, Kia America’s vice president of sales operations. He credited the expanding hybrid lineup, the arrival of the EV3 and the new Telluride and Seltos.

Model	Oct. 2026	Oct. 2025	2026 YTD	2025 YTD
Sportage	17,977	16,057	163,723	150,159
Telluride	14,009	8,571	124,047	101,069
K4/Forte	11,391	9,955	122,603	117,598
Sorento	8,782	6,698	85,987	80,710
Seltos	8,052	5,622	66,259	45,687
Carnival	7,751	6,605	69,291	57,810
K5	7,045	7,631	65,726	60,212
Niro	1,816	2,698	23,880	22,807
EV9	1,406	666	13,835	13,114
EV3	976	0	1,496	0
EV6	803	508	7,067	11,585
Soul	0	3,991	3,480	44,399
Total	80,008	69,002	747,394	705,150

Eight models grew by double digits: the EV9 up 111 percent, the Telluride 63, the EV6 58, the Seltos 43, the Sorento 31, the Carnival 17, the K4 14 and the Sportage 12. The Telluride, Seltos, Carnival, K4 and Sportage all set October records, and the Telluride, the Sportage Hybrid and the Carnival Hybrid each had the best month in their history. Among hybrids, the Sorento Hybrid rose 122 percent, the Carnival Hybrid 88 percent and the Sportage Hybrid 57 percent.

The EVs had a better month than they did in September, when the EV9 and EV6 both fell sharply. The EV9 more than doubled from a weak October 2025, the EV6 rose 58 percent, and the new EV3 added 976 sales in its first full month in showrooms, nearly double its 514 in September. The losers were the Niro, down 33 percent, the K5, down 8 percent, and the Soul, which posted zero sales for a second straight month.

Much of the growth is American-built. Kia’s release says the Telluride, the EV6 and EV9, the Sportage other than the plug-in hybrid, and the Sorento other than its hybrid and plug-in hybrid are assembled in America, which means the Sorento Hybrid’s 122 percent gain is being met with imports. Worldwide, Kia’s October sales rose 10.3 percent to 291,219, its eighth straight month of year-over-year growth, and the Sportage was its best seller everywhere with 56,811 units.

The HyundaiHQ Take

Kia beating Hyundai on the strength of a 14,000-unit Telluride month is the kind of result that changes how the two brands are seen in showrooms, because the Telluride and the Palisade fight for exactly the same family buyers as the Toyota Grand Highlander. The Sportage topping every Hyundai on the same platform as the Tucson says less about Kia than about a Tucson in its last months before a redesign. The real test comes in 2027, when the new Tucson arrives and Kia’s lead on hybrids has to hold without the help of an aging rival.