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Kia just had its best November ever in the USA. It passed 70,000 units for the first time ever in a record 70,107 vehicle sales. At the forefront of its statement about this, the company highlighted strong sales of its “electrified lineup.” Though, it also highlighted high SUV sales, and “electrified” models include conventional hybrids and plugin hybrids with relatively small batteries. Still, it was exciting to see electric vehicles put forward as the star characters in a boast about record sales — quite a break from the popular (and incorrect) narrative in 2024 that EV sales are falling.
The top highlight for sales growth was the Kia EV6, which had 46% more sales in November 2024 than in November 2023. The EV6 had 1,887 sales in November, compared to 1,290 sales in November 2023. The EV9, not highlighted by Kia, did even better! It had 2,155 sales in November 2024, compared to just 5 in November 2023. It makes sense, and is nice, that Kia wouldn’t put out some crazy percentage growth figure compared to the trickle of initial deliveries a year ago, but I would have thought the company would highlight that the EV9 was the brand’s top EV seller (among pure EVs). That said, a nice pic of the EV9 was the lead image for the press release.
Overall, electrified models accounted for 16% of Kia’s sales. (We don’t yet know the share full electrics had, as Kia didn’t indicate that and hasn’t broken out the EV share of Niro sales. Though, EV6 and EV9 sales accounted for 5.8% of Kia’s sales in November, and Niro EV sales wouldn’t have contributed a great deal more.)
Kia did highlight the new Kia EV9 GT that was just unveiled, even though that had no relevance to its November sales figures. “In addition, the high-performance 2026 Kia EV9 GT SUV and the significantly refreshed Kia EV6 were also unveiled at the at the show,” Kia writes. “With a Kia-estimated 501 horsepower propelled through dual electric motors mounted front and rear, the EV9 GT is targeted to hit 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds and represents the most powerful three-row SUV Kia has ever produced. The 2026 EV6 features updated front and rear designs, enhanced premium interior touches, and newly packaged trim levels with added features and amenities. The EV6 continues to strengthen its position in the CUV and EV segments by building on its award-winning formula.”
The company also highlighted two fully electric concepts it showed off at the SEMA show. “Kia returned to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas with two concepts that offered a peek into the future when vehicles will offer the ultimate in capability, adaptability, utility and organization, all with an eye on innovation,” Kia notes. “The two Kia concepts — the EV9 ADVNTR CONCEPT EV SUV and the PV5 WKNDR CONCEPT EV VAN — represented ‘leveled up’ versions of the brand’s rugged and capable utility vehicles which have long been known for being versatile, adaptable and comfortable and for suiting the needs of a wide range of consumers.”
Clearly, despite the currently popular anti-EV rhetoric in the industry, Kia is still keen to point out that the future is electric and Kia is doing well “leading” on EVs. (I know, relative to Tesla sales, BYD sales, or even NIO and XPENG sales, Kia’s EV sales are tiny. But this is the US, not China or even Europe, and Kia is comparing its current numbers to its past numbers and to the slower-to-electrify legacy competition’s numbers.)
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