Kia's Best Sales Month Ever Was Built on Hybrids, Not EVs

Kia America has never sold more cars in a month than it did in August. The brand moved 83,793 vehicles, edging past its previous high of 83,007 set a year earlier — and the record has far more to do with hybrids than with the EVs Kia spent years promoting.

The total is up 1 percent over August 2025, while retail sales of 77,984 units set a record of their own for the month, according to Kia America. Through eight months, Kia has delivered 590,377 vehicles in the US, a 3 percent gain and an all-time high, keeping the company on course for what it says would be a fourth consecutive annual sales record.

Six nameplates posted their best August ever. The redesigned Seltos jumped 53 percent to 9,214 units, the Carnival gained 13 percent, and the K4 rose 7 percent, while the Telluride, Sportage, and K5 each added 4 percent. The Sportage remained the brand's volume leader at 18,723 sales.

Hybrids are doing the heavy lifting

Kia's hybrid sales nearly doubled in August, up 99 percent year over year, and are running 111 percent ahead through eight months. The brand's battery-electric models are moving the other way: EV9 sales fell by a third to 1,789 units, the EV6 dropped 60 percent to just 712, and the Soul has now gone two consecutive months without a single sale.

The split reflects the wider US market since the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired on September 30, 2025. Hyundai reported the same pattern for August: total sales down 2 percent to 86,977 units, with hybrid sales up 33 percent to a record for the month.

A $29,890 answer on the EV side

Kia's fix for the EV slump arrived in the same report. The 2027 EV3 — six units of which reached customers in August — starts at $29,890 before a $1,495 destination charge and offers an EPA-estimated 321 miles of range in Wind FWD and Land FWD trims. That undercuts the $29,990 Nissan Leaf, which Nissan has been marketing as the lowest-MSRP EV on sale in the US, by $100 — while beating its 303-mile range.

Kia also confirmed 2027 pricing elsewhere in the lineup: the gas Sportage will start at $28,990, with the X-Line trim gaining a standard panoramic sunroof and power liftgate, and the refreshed, hybrid-only Niro opens at $29,890 with a new S trim and updated driver-assistance tech.

The EV3 ramps up through the fall, and Kia is counting on it to carry the record streak into an EV market that no longer has federal support.