Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis reported record sales in July, driven by strong demand for SUVs and hybrids. Hyundai sales jumped 4 percent in July, while Kia was up 7 percent and Genesis was up 4 percent. The growth was largely driven by SUVs, but both Hyundai and Kia saw impressive results for their remaining sedans.
At Hyundai, sales were up 4 percent compared to July 2025 at 82,480 units total. The Elantra led the charge, with 17,115 units sold in July, up 39 percent year-over-year. The Sonata continued its strong year with 5,218 sales in July, up 18 percent. Hybrids played a big role, with Sonata Hybrid sales up 85 percent and Elantra Hybrid sales up 13 percent.
View Price on AmazonOnly two other models at Hyundai saw increases in July. The Tucson, Hyundai's bestseller, was up 20 percent to 19,714 units, the model's highest ever July result. The tiny Venue's 2,879 units represented a 12 percent jump over the same period last year. Surprisingly, Hyundai's record July came despite an 8 percent drop for the redesigned Palisade and a 5 percent drop for the popular Santa Fe.
Over at Kia, SUVs led the way as the brand improved by 7 percent year-over-year to 75,857 units. The Sportage, Kia's bestseller, was up 12 percent at 16,083 units, with the Sportage Hybrid up 76 percent. The Sorento and Telluride both saw 14 percent rises, the former helped by a 16 percent bump in hybrid sales. But the biggest winner was the Seltos, which recently entered its second-generation and posted a whopping 79 percent increase in July to 8,807 units.
The Carnival minivan also had a nice July, up 23 percent to 7,279 units, with hybrid sales up 16 percent, while the K4 registered an 8 percent increase and the K5 was up 14 percent. Like at Hyundai, Kia's electric offerings struggled, with the EV9 sliding 5 percent in July and the EV6 down a substantial 48 percent.
While the overall numbers are much smaller at Hyundai's luxury division Genesis, the brand still reported its best-ever July with 6,947 sales, up 4 percent. The biggest increases came from the SUVs, with the GV70 registering 2,978 units, up 10 percent, and the GV80 notching 2,044 units, up 10 percent.
The strong July results from the Korean brands are just the latest in a string of successes. Hyundai is currently up 3 percent year-to-date at 533,048 units sold, while Kia is up 4 percent year-to-date with 506,584 units sold and is on track to set its fourth consecutive annual sales record. At Genesis, July represented the 22nd consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth, and the 46,035 units sold year-to-date are 5 percent better than last year.
Source: caranddriver.com
