Hyundai Motor and Kia each sold more vehicles in the United States last month than in any previous October, their American units reported on Tuesday, as buyers moved to hybrid versions of the South Korean sister companies' SUVs. Kia America sold 80,008 vehicles, up 16% from a year earlier, and Hyundai Motor America sold 73,452, up 5%, for a combined 153,460.

The figures are the first monthly read on U.S. demand since Hyundai Motor cut its 2026 sales and margin targets on Oct. 29. For investors in Seoul and across Asia who hold the two stocks as a bet on the American car buyer, they show demand holding up. Whether that volume turns into profit depends on tariff costs and on a won that has firmed since the third quarter.

Kia leads as hybrids carry both brands

October was Kia's sixth straight month of record sales, the company said. Retail sales through its U.S. dealer network rose 20% to 68,926. Hybrid sales more than doubled, up 114%, and sales of electrified models as a group rose 112%.

Sales of the all-new Telluride three-row SUV rose 63% to 14,009, a record for any month. The EV9 electric SUV more than doubled to 1,406, and the new EV3, priced from just under $30,000, added 976 units as it reached showrooms nationwide. Eric Watson, Kia America's vice president of sales operations, said the brand is "accelerating toward a fourth straight annual sales record."

Hyundai's gains were narrower. Retail sales rose 9% to an October record of 62,646, and hybrids climbed 20% to account for 29% of total volume, the company said. The Santa Fe SUV jumped 52% to 17,959 and the larger Palisade rose 14% to 10,840, both October records. Randy Parker, chief executive of Hyundai Motor North America, called it "our best October ever."

Not every line grew. The Sonata sedan fell 29%, and the Ioniq 5 electric SUV, while up 21% in the month to 1,981, is down 23% for the year. Through October, Hyundai's U.S. sales are up 3% at 770,916 and Kia's are up 6% at 747,394, according to the companies' tables.

Honda Motor's U.S. unit, American Honda, also had a strong month. It sold 119,952 Honda and Acura vehicles, up 8% for its best October since 2020, and Honda-brand hybrid sales set an October record of 32,519, up 5.1%, the company said. The two Korean brands together outsold it by about 33,500 vehicles.

Tariffs and a firmer won test Hyundai Motor and Kia margins

Shares of the two moved in opposite directions. Hyundai Motor shares rose 2.16% to 283,500 won in Seoul on Wednesday, while Kia slipped 0.83% to 95,800 won, Yonhap reported.

The U.S. strength follows a weak quarter at Hyundai's factories. Its global wholesale volume fell 11.3% to 920,710 vehicles in the three months through September, which the company blamed on strikes and fewer working days. It lowered its 2026 wholesale target to 4 million vehicles from 4.16 million and its operating margin goal to 5.5% to 6.5%, from 6.3% to 7.3%. Hyundai said its U.S. market share has stayed in the 6% range for six consecutive quarters, and that it plans to raise production and sell more new models to recover.

Tariffs still weigh on Kia. In its third-quarter results, U.S. tariff expenses came to 701 billion won, down from 1.23 trillion won a year earlier, The Korea Herald reported, and excluding them operating profit fell to 2.52 trillion won from 2.7 trillion won. Kia's U.S. market share reached a quarterly high of 5.8% in the period, the company said.

The currency is moving against both. Hyundai credited favorable exchange rates for part of its third-quarter profit gain, but the won has firmed since then. It was quoted at 1,341.5 per dollar on Wednesday afternoon, according to Yonhap, against a third-quarter average of about 1,419 calculated from European Central Bank reference rates. At that rate, a dollar of U.S. revenue converts into more than 5% fewer won.

Both companies build part of their U.S. lineup locally. Hyundai said it is investing about $450 million in its Montgomery, Alabama, plant to support future vehicles, including the all-new Tucson, and expanded engine production, part of Hyundai Motor Group's $26 billion U.S. investment plan for 2025 through 2028. Kia said several of its SUVs, including the Telluride, are assembled in the United States.

Tesla and BYD gain ground in Korea

At home, imported brands are climbing. Imported vehicle registrations in South Korea rose 29.3% in October to 31,117, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association reported by Yonhap. Tesla's sales more than doubled to 9,165, and BYD's Korean unit sold 1,594, up 93.4%. Fully electric cars made up 46.4% of imported registrations.

Hyundai's own sales in Korea fell 27.2% to 131,468 in the third quarter, which the company attributed to strikes that disrupted domestic production.

In the United States, the Tucson is the model to watch. It is Hyundai's top seller there this year, with 199,495 sales through October, but its October sales fell 23% to 17,808. Hyundai unveiled an all-new version in New York in October with a hybrid system targeting up to 42 miles per gallon, and said it is expected to reach North America in 2027.