New Car Sales Hold Steady in February; Kia and Hyundai See Strong Numbers

by Michael Strong

Published: March 3rd, 2026

new car sales hold steady in february kia and hyundai see strong numbers

As a whole, automakers reported a solid sales month in February; however, the actual numbers varied wildly depending upon the company, ranging from Kia setting a new record to Subaru suffering nearly a double-digit decline.

Kia America and Hyundai enjoyed solid increases in February while American Honda and Toyota Motor saw negligible gains. Meanwhile Subaru and Mazda suffered through a difficult month. Ford reports its numbers Wednesday.

Just a few days after revealing the pricing on the 2027 Kia Telluride, the company’s flagship, officials reported it continued its record-breaking streak of monthly sales increases, led by sales of the Telluride, which jumped 37 percent. Carnival (31 percent), K5 (21 percent), Niro (20 percent, Seltos (14 percent), Sportage (6 percent), and K4 (3 percent) posted gains last month.

“Interest in the Kia brand throughout the U.S. is growing by leaps and bounds and the all-new 2027 Telluride is the reason,” said Eric Watson, vice president, sales operations, Kia America, in a release.

“Just as we launched the second-generation SUV, Telluride achieved its highest-ever monthly sales, underscoring the sustained interest in and ongoing popularity of this segment leading model. Our diverse vehicle lineup continues to attract new customers as well as maintain repeat customers, trends that we fully expect to continue.”

Kia’s sibling company, Hyundai Motor America, rode its SUV portfolio to a 6 percent rise on a year-over-year basis. However, the company’s expansive lineup of electric vehicles and hybrids enjoyed a warm response with EVs improving 6 percent and hybrids skyrocketing 79 percent.

As was the case with Kia, Hyundai’s flagship SUV, the Palisade, led the charge with a 28 percent jump while the Santa Fe and Tucson followed up with 19 percent and 6 percent jumps respectively. The Ioniq 5 EV enjoyed a 33 percent increase, offsetting the much-slower selling Ioniq 6, which fell 77 percent.

Toyota Motor, the combination of Toyota and Lexus, posted a 3.2 percent jump, buoyed in large measure strong truck and sedan sales, which helped to offset a 57 percent drop in the company’s most popular vehicle, the RAV4. Toyota officials have said meeting the demand for the all-new RAV4 will be difficult during the early stages.

Toyota’s Japanese rival, American Honda, posted a modest gain of 1.1 percent as strong car sales — a 9.4 percent increase — offset a tough month for trucks with a 2 percent slide. Luxury unit Acura slayed in February with double-digit jumps in both cars and trucks, posting a combined 17.3 percent rise for the period.

Mazda came in flat for the month, selling 33,497 vehicles, technically a slide of 0.1 percent. And while a non-gain might be tough sometimes, if it’s in comparison to a record-setting month, it’s not all bad. Despite no real improvement, officials noted it was the company’s second-best February ever. The Mazda3 enjoyed its best February since 2020, with the hatchback outperforming the sedan, and jumping 125.8 compared to last February. Overall Mazda3 sales were up 10.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the CX-50 had its best-ever February with the combined numbers for the gas and hybrid models coming in 38.7 percent over last year’s numbers. The CX-5 saw a similar gain of 26 percent.

On the downside, there is Subaru, which was hit hard by severe storms that crashed its high-volume markets on the East Coast, causing sales to fall 8.2 percent last month. Despite the storms and the shorter selling month, the Forester enjoyed its best February ever with a 24.9 percent rise compared to the year-ago period.

Aside from the BRZ, which only sold 277 units, which was good for a 13.5 percent increase, every other model in Subaru’s lineup fell in percentages ranging from 10.3 percent (Ascent) to 63.5 percent (Legacy). Crosstrek was the brand’s second-best performer, in terms of volume with 11,480 vehicles sold.

[Images: Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Subaru]

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Michael Strong

Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.

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5 of 16 comments

Bd2 on Mar 04, 2026

ATPs and eATPs: the Hyundai Story of Success. They will outsell toyota this year .

1 Reply
- See 2 previous
- Bd2 on Mar 04, 2026
  
  ^ Much to your chagrin ANAL, HMG has a shot of doing that in Canada...
  
  Like
- EBFlexing on ur mom on Mar 04, 2026
  
  ^ ANAL TALKING TO HIMSELF
  
  Like
- Bd2 on Mar 05, 2026
  
  ^ ANAL is hating on HMG again and stealing my user handle
  
  Like
SCE to AUX on Mar 04, 2026

"Subaru, which was hit hard by severe storms that crashed its high-volume markets on the East Coast"

If Subaru can't sell cars in the winter snow, what's to become of us?

2 Reply

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