- Hyundai and Kia just had their best July ever in terms of car sales.
- The two Hyundai Motor Group brands recorded their third consecutive month of growth.
- Electric cars used to dominate the charts, but now it’s a completely different story.
Sister brands Hyundai and Kia ended July with a bang, but the two marques’ electric models failed to keep up with the momentum stateside. For both automakers, it was the best-ever July in terms of sales, as well as the third consecutive month of growth, and it was mostly due to the huge success of hybrids.
Hyundai sold a total of 82,480 cars in the United States last month, up 3% year-over-year, followed by Kia with 75,857 units, a 7% increase over the same month last year. The Hyundai Sonata hybrid, Elantra hybrid, and Tucson set all-time July sales records, which also helped the nameplate land a best-ever July for hybrid sales.
The Tucson Hybrid had the highest increase in sales in July.
Photo by: Hyundai
The Tucson crossover was Hyundai’s best-selling model last month in the United States, landing 19,714 deliveries. The Elantra sedan was a close second, with 17,115 sales, followed by the Santa Fe SUV with 13,373 units.
Meanwhile, Hyundai’s electric offerings went into the red. The Ioniq 6 sedan was the company’s worst-selling model in July, with just 76 units delivered, down 82% year-over-year. However, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, seeing how Hyundai discontinued the regular Ioniq 6 trims stateside, leaving just a limited number of Ioniq 6 N available for customers.
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 SUV scored 700 new customers last month, a 35% decrease from last year, while the Ioniq 5 crossove secured 3,636 sales in July, down 38% compared to the same month last year. Looking at the overall picture, though, it’s still looking decent for Hyundai’s EVs. From January through July, the Ioniq 5 sold 24,366 units, down 2% from the same period last year, while the Ioniq 9 sold 5,558 units, a 166% increase year-over-year. Hyundai sold 1,317 Ioniq 6s during the same period, leading to an 82% decrease.
The Ioniq 6 was Hyundai’s worst-selling model overall in the U.S. last month.
Photo by: Hyundai
It’s a similar story at Kia. The company’s hybrid models led the July charts with record-setting sales figures and a 108% increase over the same month last year. The Sportage crossover was at the top of the list, with a 76% boost in sales, while the Carnival hybrid and Sorento hybrid gained 16% each.
The Sportage was the brand’s best-selling model overall, with 16,083 units reaching new customers, followed by the K4/Forte with 12,094 sales and the Telluride with 11,816 units. On the EV front, Hyundai sold 674 EV6 crossovers, down 47% compared to last year, while the EV9 SUV ended July with 1,650 sales, down 5% year-over-year.
From the beginning of the year through July, the EV9’s numbers look a lot better, with a total of 8,685 sales—up 30% from the same period last year. The EV6, however, is not looking so hot, though, with 4,717 units sold in the first seven months, down 34%.
The EV9 was Kia’s best-selling electric car last month, outpacing the more affordable EV6.
Photo by: Kia
It’s no wonder that hybrid sales exploded for both automakers, seeing how the average gas price in the U.S. recently went above $4/gallon. Then, there’s the fact that car companies no longer have an incentive to build fuel-efficient cars, and car buyers can no longer enjoy the $7,500 federal tax credit to get a new EV that would shield them from growing fuel prices.
All this being said, there is light at the end of the tunnel for electric cars. Hyundai recently slashed the price of the Ioniq 5 N by a massive amount, and companies like Ford and Slate are working on more affordable models, which are due in the coming months.