Kia America posted its best annual sales in history in 2025, with 852,155 vehicles sold across the country, a healthy increase of 7%. Together with Hyundai, the Korean brands saw strong growth last year, largely a result of class-leading design and vehicles spanning multiple segments.
But what’s particularly intriguing about Kia’s sales figures are the two models that saw the biggest growth for the company in America last year. Although the Kia Sportage remains the brand’s top-selling model and SUVs still dominate overall, it was the surprising combination of a midsize sedan and a minivan that accounted for Kia’s most significant gains in percentage terms.
Kia K5 and Carnival Enjoy Sales Boom
2025 Kia K5
Last year, Kia sold 72,751 examples of the midsize K5 sedan. Although it still trails the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, this represents a massive 57% sales jump relative to 2024; no other Kia model managed to increase sales by a larger margin. Considering that midsize sedans aren’t exactly in their golden age, this is a promising result for the K5. The 2026 model didn’t change much, but it seems that the vehicle’s low starting price of $27,390 and the availability of a 290-horsepower range-topper have started to catch the attention of buyers in this category.
The Carnival minivan is the Kia that saw the brand’s second-highest sales growth after the K5 in 2025. 71,917 Carnivals were sold last year, an increase of 44.6% over 2024. The addition of a much more efficient hybrid variant of the Carnival no doubt contributed to the minivan’s rise in sales, and it’s keeping pace with a surprising revival of minivans in general. Whereas the standard Carnival V6 gets just 21 mpg combined, the hybrid returns up to 32 mpg.
To put into perspective the sales growth of the K5 and Carnival last year, consider that sales of Kia’s Sportage was up by just 12.9%, while the Telluride—which is soon to be replaced—was up by 6.7%. There were declines for both Kia EVs (the EV6 and EV9), along with the Soul, Seltos, and Sorento.
Related: 5 Reasons You Should Buy A Minivan Over An SUV
Rising Car Prices Could Benefit Less Popular Body Styles
Kia
The average price of new cars surpassed $50,000 for the first time in recent months, a new record that’s created an affordability crisis for lower-income households. For many consumers, this could mean abandoning hopes of jumping into a desirable SUV for something cheaper.
Often, sedans and minivans deliver greater value for money than SUVs and crossovers, despite the body styles falling out of favor over the last 15 years or so. With the demise of the Kia Soul, Kia’s cheapest car is now the K4 sedan at $22,190. The stylish K4 Hatchback also debuted recently with an attractive sub-$25k price, and you can get a spicy turbocharged example for around $29k, with a lot more power than any Kia SUV at the same price point. At $36,990, the cheapest Carnival has a lot more space than any equivalent Kia SUV.
While SUVs are likely to maintain their domination, buyers willing to sacrifice the raised, rugged body style can drive off in something cheaper, and that could further drive sedan and minivan sales in the months ahead.
