Hyundai Motor Group closes to within 1,195 vehicles of Ford in U.S. sales
Ford outsold Hyundai Motor Group by 1,195 light-duty U.S. vehicles in the third quarter and kept the No. 3 spot. Ford links its lower volume to retiring the Escape and Corsair, and that drop is about 58% of the 62,000 vehicles its lead shrank over the year.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Hyundai, Kia and Genesis together sold 506,200 vehicles in the quarter, a 5.4% gain on the same period of 2025.
- Ford's light-duty sales fell 6.6% to 507,395, a count that leaves out its heavy-duty trucks.
- Cox Automotive had forecast that Hyundai Motor Group would pass Ford for the first time, at 511,421 vehicles to 504,172.
- A supplier disruption stopped F-150 production at two assembly plants at the end of September, and CEO Jim Farley said it has since been resolved.
Why it matters
- Who's exposed exposure Ford's cushion is only 1,195 vehicles, so F-150 output lost in the September halt and not made up in the fourth quarter could hand the No. 3 rank to Hyundai Motor Group.
- What it costs cost Ford's supply problems now hit both earnings and rank. The Novelis fires are a $1.5 billion cost in 2026, and Ford says the cost of the F-150 halt will fit within its $10.0 billion to $11.0 billion adjusted EBIT guidance.
- What doesn't add up contradiction Quartz, citing CNBC, says both automakers beat analysts' expectations. Measured against Cox's forecast, though, Hyundai Motor Group fell 5,221 vehicles short, the larger part of Cox's 8,444-unit miss.
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Working back from the reported growth rates, Ford sold about 543,250 light-duty vehicles in the year-ago quarter and Hyundai Motor Group sold about 480,266, so Ford led by roughly 63,000 [28][19][20]. The lead is now 1,195 [29]. Of the 61,789 units that disappeared, about 35,855 came from Ford selling fewer vehicles and about 25,934 from Hyundai Motor Group selling more [21][22][23].
Kia supplied most of the Korean gain. Its 8% rise to 236,659 works out to about 17,530 extra vehicles. The Hyundai brand added about 7,190, rising 3% to 246,896 [4][3][24][25]. By subtraction, Genesis sold 22,645 [26]. Cox estimates the whole market shrank about 1% to 4.1 million units in the quarter [7]. Regular gasoline averaged $4.43 a gallon in September, up from $3.20 a year earlier, according to AAA [5].
Ford says its decline was planned. The company said the drop reflected a portfolio transition that included phasing out the Escape and Corsair, and that excluding those two models its volume was essentially unchanged while the industry fell roughly 1% [12]. On the same basis, Ford put its retail share at 12.1%, up about 0.4 points [13]. "We delivered a solid quarter and continued to gain retail share adjusted for the planned sunset of Escape and Corsair," Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue and Model e, said [14].
If the flat adjusted figure is Ford's real run rate, its reported decline should narrow once the year-ago quarter no longer includes the retired models [12]. From then on, the gap would stop closing from Ford's side. If Kia grows 8% again, that alone adds about 17,500 units, more than 14 times Ford's cushion [24][32]. In my view, the rank now depends more on Kia than on Ford, because the drag from the two retired models ends once they drop out of the comparison. Fuel prices are the risk for Ford. Cox expected hybrid-heavy Asian brands to take more than half of third-quarter new-vehicle sales [6]. Ford's Maverick Hybrid had a record quarter of 27,793 trucks, which is only about 5.5% of Ford's light-duty total [15][31]. If Ford's fourth-quarter decline is bigger than the Escape and Corsair effect, its losses are not all self-inflicted.
The ranking also depends on what gets counted. Ford's 509,764 total includes 2,369 heavy-duty trucks that are left out of the light-duty tally. On total sales, Ford's lead over Hyundai Motor Group is 3,564 [8][30].
What to watch
- Fourth-quarter light-duty totals from Ford and Hyundai Motor Group, the first count since the late-September F-150 halt.
- Whether regular gasoline stays near September's $4.43 national average while hybrid-heavy Asian brands take more than half of U.S. new-vehicle sales.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
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- [1]
Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai, Kia and Genesis) posted combined quarterly U.S. sales of 506,200 vehicles, up 5.4% from the same period in 2025.
- [2]
Cox Automotive expected Hyundai Motor Group to surpass Ford in quarterly U.S. sales for the first time, forecasting third-quarter sales of 511,421 vehicles for Hyundai versus 504,172 for Ford.
- [3]
Hyundai brand reported its best third quarter ever, with sales of 246,896 vehicles, up 3% year over year.
- [4]
Kia posted its best-ever quarterly sales total of 236,659 units, up 8% from the same period last year.
- [5]
Regular gasoline hit a national average of $4.43 a gallon in September, compared with $3.20 a year earlier.
- [6]
Cox Automotive expected hybrid-heavy Asian brands including Toyota and Honda to account for more than half of new-vehicle sales in the third quarter, with the Detroit Three's combined share dipping to around 36%.
- [7]
Cox estimates overall third-quarter U.S. sales at about 4.1 million units, down about 1% from a year earlier.
- [8]
Ford reported third-quarter U.S. sales of 509,764 vehicles.
- [9]
Ford's light-duty vehicle total for the quarter was 507,395 units, a 6.6% drop from the prior-year period; heavy-duty trucks are a separate classification not included in that count.
- [10]
Ford retained the No. 3 position in the U.S. market by a margin of fewer than 1,200 light-duty vehicles over Hyundai Motor Group.
- [11]
Both Ford and Hyundai Motor Group surpassed what analysts had anticipated.
- [12]
Ford said its overall sales decline reflected a planned portfolio transition including the phase-out of the Escape and Corsair; adjusting for those two models, its total sales volume was essentially unchanged against an industry decline of roughly 1%.
- [13]
Ford estimated its retail share, excluding the phased-out models, rose about 0.4 percentage points year over year to 12.1%.
- [14]
"We delivered a solid quarter and continued to gain retail share adjusted for the planned sunset of Escape and Corsair," Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue and Model e, said in a statement.
- [15]
Ford's Maverick Hybrid set a quarterly sales record of 27,793 trucks, up 59.6%.
- [16]
A supplier disruption temporarily halted F-150 production at the end of September, affecting two assembly plants; Ford CEO Jim Farley said the issue has been resolved and fourth-quarter production remains on schedule.
- [17]
Ford said the expected financial impact of the F-150 disruption is containable within its full-year 2026 adjusted EBIT guidance of $10.0 billion to $11.0 billion.
- [18]
Fires at aluminum supplier Novelis knocked a key facility offline last year, a disruption expected to cost Ford $1.5 billion in 2026.
- [19]
Hyundai Motor Group's year-ago third-quarter sales were about 480,266.
- [20]
A year earlier Ford led Hyundai Motor Group by roughly 62,984 light-duty vehicles (about 63,000).
- [21]
Ford's lead over Hyundai Motor Group narrowed by about 61,789 vehicles (roughly 62,000) over the year.
- [22]
Ford's light-duty decline of about 35,855 units accounts for about 58% of the 61,789-vehicle narrowing.
- [23]
Hyundai Motor Group sold about 25,934 more vehicles than a year earlier, about 42% of the narrowing.
- [24]
Kia's 8% gain equals about 17,530 additional vehicles, roughly two-thirds of Hyundai Motor Group's year-over-year gain.
- [25]
The Hyundai brand's 3% gain equals about 7,190 additional vehicles.
- [26]
Genesis's implied third-quarter sales were 22,645 vehicles.
- [27]
Cox had forecast a Hyundai Motor Group lead of 7,249; Hyundai came in 5,221 below Cox's figure and Ford's light-duty count 3,223 above it, an 8,444-unit miss on the spread. Cox's forecast basis (light-duty or total) is not stated.
- [28]
Ford's year-ago third-quarter light-duty sales were about 543,250, implying a year-over-year decline of about 35,855 units.
- [29]
Ford's third-quarter light-duty lead over Hyundai Motor Group was 1,195 vehicles.
- [30]
Ford's total includes 2,369 heavy-duty trucks; on total sales, Ford's margin over Hyundai Motor Group is 3,564 vehicles.
- [31]
Maverick Hybrid's 27,793 sales are about 5.5% of Ford's light-duty total.
- [32]
A repeat of Kia's roughly 17,530-unit gain would be more than 14 times Ford's 1,195-vehicle cushion.
Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- channelnewsasia.comGM hangs on to US sales crown, but Toyota closes in
1 article · October 1, 2026
- en.sedaily.comHyundai Motor Group Holds No. 3 in U.S. for Second Month
1 article · September 29, 2026
- qz.comFord held off Hyundai for the No. 3 U.S. sales spot by fewer than 1,200 vehicles
1 article · October 2, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Automotive Supply Chain
- Hybrid Vehicles