Kia's Sales Continue to Explode—Except In One Category

The brand has sold 487,634 through July, up 12 percent. But one sector has slumped significantly.

2026 Kia Sportage PHEV Front 3/4

Photo by: Kia

Anthony Alaniz

By: Anthony Alaniz

Aug 1, 2025 at 2:00pm ET

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Kia just posted its best first half of sales ever, and that momentum continues into July. The automaker sold 71,123 cars last month, up 12 percent compared to July 2024.

Kia has sold 487,634 vehicles through July. That’s 37,000 more than it sold in the first seven months of 2024. Eric Watson, Kia America’s vice president of sales operations, said the brand “is steadily progressing toward its highest annual sales record and an all-time high market share, fueled by record-breaking consumer sales growth.”

Kia’s Best-Sellers

The Sportage remains the brand’s best-selling model, with the budget-friendly K4 coming in second. The pair sold 14,392 and 11,188 examples, respectively, last month. The Telluride was a close third at 10,411, with the Sorento and Carnival rounding out the top five. Sales for those models were all up in July.

Model July 2025 July 2024 Difference Sportage 14,392 12,628 13.9% K4/Forte 11,188 10,448 7.0% Telluride 10,411 9,082 14.6% Sorento 7,965 7,206 10.5% Carnival 5,982 4,557 31.3% K5 5,879 4,713 24.7% Seltos 4,917 5,481 -10.3% Soul 4,665 3,428 36.1% Niro 2,751 2,674 2.9% EV9 1,737 1,815 -4.3% EV6 1,290 1,547 -16.6% Total 71,123 63,580 13.4%

Other strong performers included the Soul, up 36 percent, the Carnival, up 31 percent, and the K5, up 25 percent. However, a few saw them dip, like the Seltos.

Some Kia Models Saw Sales Dip

Sales for the compact crossover dropped from 5,481 in 2024 to 4,917 last month, and they’re down for the year. But they also could rebound before the end of the year. Kia recently made the compact crossover $1,000 cheaper for 2026 by offering a new entry-level front-wheel-drive trim, which could broaden its appeal as more consumers seek affordable options.

2026 Kia Seltos

Photo by: Kia

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Kia’s two EVs also saw their sales fall last month, with the automaker selling 1,737 EV9s and 1,290 EV6s. That’s compared to the 1,815 and 1,547 sold in July 2024. Sales for the pair are also down for the year by a substantial amount. Kia had sold 12,488 EV6s by this time last year. It's sold just 7,165 units so far in 2025. The EV9 has dwindled from 11,486 units to 6,675, but like the Seltos, Kia has adjusted the EV9’s price for 2026.

Kia’s Sales Future

Kia certainly wants to finish the year strong, with the potential of being its best ever. However, the United States and South Korea recently agreed to a new trade deal that lowered the threat of auto tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent. That’s the same rate applied to imported vehicles from Europe and Japan, so it’ll be interesting to watch how that affects the industry going forward.

Staying Price Competitive:

The 2026 Kia Sportage Is Surprisingly Cheap

2026 Kia Carnival Is Still the Cheapest Minivan on Sale

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Source: Kia

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