Kia Defies Industry Slump With Record Q1 Sales, Beats Hyundai

Kia has shared its latest sales report in the United States, and although March sales were down relative to last year, the company still managed to achieve the highest first-quarter sales in its history. Kia sold 76,508 vehicles in March, down from 78,540 in March 2025, but quarterly sales increased by 4% to 207,015 units. Multiple models set records for first-quarter sales, with the all-new Telluride gaining ground, picking up right where the old one left off. Kia is also outselling Hyundai in 2026 so far, although the sales race between the two Korean brands is close.

Sportage Leads The Way

Kia’s best-selling model in March was the Sportage, which registered sales of 16,819 units. It was one of four Kias to set new first quarter sales records, the others being the Carnival, K4, and Telluride. These were Kia’s top 5 best-selling models in March 2026:

1. Kia Sportage: 16,819
2. Kia K4/Forte: 13,714
3. Kia Telluride: 13,306
4. Kia Sorento: 8,858
5. Kia Carnival: 6,947

“The all-new 2027 Kia Telluride has been well received by U.S. automotive media and is a key addition to the success we are seeing across our lineup of sedans, SUVs and electrified models,” said Eric Watson, vice president, sales operations, Kia America. “As we expand Telluride production capacity in the U.S., including the introduction of a new Turbo-Hybrid powertrain, we believe there is a meaningful opportunity to further grow our share in one of the largest and most important automotive segments.”

The Kia model with the largest drop off in sales was the Soul, which registered just 543 sales in March, down from 3,717 a year ago. This is because Kia recently discontinued the Soul, which was its cheapest crossover. The EV9 (1,247) and EV6 (883) were other slow-selling Kias in March, but the EV6 wasn’t actually far off its March 2025 sales performance (921 units).

Comparison With Hyundai

Like Kia, Hyundai had its strongest first-quarter sales ever in the U.S., with 205,388 vehicles sold–that puts it just 1,627 units behind Kia so far in 2026. However, Hyundai comfortably outsold Kia in March, with 84,087 sales to Kia’s 76,508.

In March, the Hyundai Tucson sold 23,721 units, easily beating the Kia Sportage. The Elantra, Santa Fe, Ioniq 5, and Kona all outsold the equivalent Kia models, too. However, the new Telluride and Ioniq 9 outsold the comparable Hyundai models. Here’s a look at how these key models fared in March 2026.

If Hyundai keeps this momentum up, it may soon pass Kia for total 2026 sales, but it’s too soon to call between these brands. One of the surprises remains how much better Ioniq 5 sales are than the EV6’s, as these two EVs are closely related.

Kia’s advantage is having a minivan (Carnival) on sale, but only Hyundai has a pickup truck (Santa Cruz). 

What It Means

The continued growth of the Korean brands in the U.S. has been impressive to witness over the last few months. While major brands like GM, Toyota, and Honda all saw declining first-quarter sales, Kia and Hyundai achieved record sales in Q1. Both Korean brands have set themselves apart with courageous designs, competitive electrified lineups, and plenty of high-value models under $30,000. We look forward to seeing how much more these brands can eat into the market share of Japanese rivals as the year progresses.