Kia Posts Its Best Quarter Ever as Telluride Sales Jump 42% and EVs Keep Falling
Kia sold 236,659 vehicles from July through September, its strongest quarter yet. Hybrid sales rose 152 percent in September while its EVs fell by more than a third.
Kia America just wrapped up the best three months in its history. The brand sold 236,659 vehicles in the US from July through September, and its biggest September gainer among volume models wasn't an EV. It was the Telluride, whose sales jumped 42 percent as the new hybrid version reached dealers.
September alone came to 77,009 units, up 18 percent from a year earlier and a record for the month, according to Kia. That still trails the 83,793 vehicles Kia sold in August, which remains the brand's best month ever. Retail deliveries, which exclude fleet sales, rose 19 percent to 70,429.
The Telluride moved 11,927 units in September. Only the Sportage (16,033) and the K4 (12,658) sold more. Through nine months, the three-row SUV is up 19 percent to 110,038.
This year the second-generation Telluride added the nameplate's first hybrid: a 329-hp turbocharged 2.5-liter four rated at up to 35 mpg combined. It starts at $46,490 plus a $1,545 destination charge, per Kia's pricing announcement. Telluride models built after June also earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick+.
Kia doesn't break out hybrid sales by model. It does say its hybrid volume climbed 152 percent in September, led by the Telluride Hybrid. The Sorento Hybrid (up 112 percent), Sportage Hybrid (up 53 percent), and Carnival Hybrid (up 47 percent) also grew. Kia is now pushing that lineup in a new ad campaign built around five of them.
Kia's total electrified sales, which also count its EVs, rose a much smaller 60 percent. That gap is the EV problem. Kia's three battery-electric models combined for 3,304 sales in September, down 37 percent from 5,210 a year ago. The EV6 fell 61 percent to 835 units, and the EV9 dropped 37 percent to 1,955.
EVs made up about 4 percent of Kia's September volume, down from 8 percent. The year-ago comparison is a hard one: September 2025 was the last month buyers could claim the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. The new EV3, which starts at $29,890, added 514 sales after just six deliveries in August.
The table also helps explain the Seltos's 66 percent jump. The Soul logged zero sales in September, against 4,069 a year earlier, and hasn't sold a unit since June. Together, the redesigned Seltos and the Soul totaled 7,682 sales, about 12 percent fewer than the pair managed in September 2025. That suggests much of the Seltos's growth is former Soul demand moving over.
Kia's quarter also matters for its parent company. Cox Automotive forecast last week that Hyundai Motor Group would sell 511,421 vehicles across Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia in the third quarter. That would beat Ford's projected 504,172 and outsell Ford for the first time, CNBC reported. Kia alone accounts for roughly 46 percent of that forecast. Hyundai and Genesis haven't reported their numbers yet.
Through September, Kia has sold 667,386 vehicles. That's 5 percent ahead of last year's pace and keeps the brand on track for what would be a fourth straight annual record. Kia hasn't given a full-year target. The fourth-quarter question is whether the Telluride Hybrid can keep covering for EVs, while the EV3 is still ramping up.
