Consumers are gravitating toward Korean cars, and both Hyundai and Kia benefited from the trend in September of 2011. Kia reported its 13th consecutive month of record sales, while the sales of the new Hyundai Veloster started off reasonably strong.
Hyundai: Up 12 Percent – 52,051 Units Sold
The new Veloster has only been on sale since mid-September, but Hyundai reports that 838 examples of the three-door car have already been sold in less than two weeks. The Santa Fe and Tucson crossovers also performed strongly this month, selling 6213 and 3724 units, accounting for 67- and 36-percent increases, respectively.
The Sonata and Elantra continue to be Hyundai’s top-sellers: 18,181 Sonatas were sold, while 14,386 Elantras were sold for the month of September, and the luxurious Equus exceeded its first full-year sales target, selling 292 units this month, and 2,283 for the year.
Kia: Up 18.4 Percent – 35,609 Units Sold
In the winner’s circle, the U.S.-built Sorento SUV came out on top once again, selling 11,112 units compared to 10,115 over the same period last year. The Soul shuffled 6666 units off the lot compared to 5,346 sold in September 2011. But most valuable player of the bunch is the Optima: 6191 units in September, tripling the 2,204 units sold in the same period last year. Year-to-date sales for the stylish midsize sedan increased 162 percent, selling 55,737 compared to last year’s 21,222.
It comes as no surprise that numbers for the discontinued Borrego continue to dwindle. Only 10 units were sold compared to the 1107 purchased in the same span last year. Year-to-date sales total 375 vehicles – a 95-percent decrease over the 8,313 units sold last year.
The Rio sold 1,638 last year in September, but only 190 units of the all-new 2012 model were sold in September. However, we expect sales numbers to increase in the upcoming months as production is ramped up to full capacity. Forte sales stayed steady, increasing six percent to 5458 units.
