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Gas Cars Are Saving Kia From A Full-Blown Electric Sales Disaster
- Kia posted a 12% year-over-year sales gain for July despite falling EV numbers.
- EV6 and EV9 sales are down over 40% compared to the same period in 2024.
- The gas-powered Sportage has already surpassed 101,000 sales in 2025 alone.
Electric vehicle sales may have surged over the past few years, but 2025 is shaping up to be more complicated for the segment. Despite steady innovation, fresh designs, and continued refinement, demand seems to be cooling.
That trend is particularly evident for Kia, whose EV9 and EV6 models are struggling to keep pace with last year’s numbers, n unexpected turn, considering the recent surge in EV sales as buyers hurry to take advantage of the $7,500 federal tax credit, whether through purchases or leases.
More: Kia Is Done With Gas GT Performance Cars
The automaker just released sales figures for the month of July so let’s focus on those first. During the month, Kia sold 1,737 EV9s and just 1,290 EV6s. Last year in the same month, it sold 1,815 and 1,545 respectively. Sure, that doesn’t look so great for what is an awesome crossover, but the EV9’s number could be an aberration. Except that yearly totals say otherwise.
A Steeper Decline Over Time
This year, Kia has sold 7,165 EV6s. That’s 5,323 less than it had after July of 2024. In other terms, that’s a full 42.6 percent decline in sales. The EV9 is actually fairing ever so slightly better as it’s down 41.8 percent from 11,486 sales through July of 2024 to just 6,675 sales so far this year. Somehow, though, the brand is having a great year overall thanks to gas-burning options.
Gas-Powered Models Carry the Load
The K5 is crushing it in sales with over 40,000 units sold already. The Carnival minivan is up 52.4 percent year over year with 39,080 sales so far in 2025. The Telluride, Sorento, and K4 are also selling well. Finally, the Sportage is crushing it with over 101,000 sales already this year, contributing to Kia being up 8.3 percent for the year in total.
| Model | Jul-25 | Jul-24 | Diff. | YTD-25 | YTD-24 | Diff. |
| EV9 | 1,737 | 1,815 | -4.3% | 6,675 | 11,486 | -41.9% |
| EV6 | 1,290 | 1,547 | -16.6% | 7,165 | 12,488 | -42.6% |
| K4/Forte | 11,188 | 10,448 | 7.1% | 86,723 | 80,921 | 7.2% |
| K5 | 5,879 | 4,713 | 24.7% | 40,444 | 17,520 | 130.9% |
| Soul | 4,665 | 3,428 | 36.1% | 30,791 | 31,893 | -3.5% |
| Niro | 2,751 | 2,674 | 2.9% | 14,539 | 20,776 | -30.0% |
| Seltos | 4,917 | 5,481 | -10.3% | 29,856 | 38,267 | -22.0% |
| Sportage | 14,392 | 12,628 | 14.0% | 101,564 | 92,481 | 9.9% |
| Sorento | 7,965 | 7,206 | 10.5% | 58,884 | 53,869 | 9.3% |
| Telluride | 10,411 | 9,082 | 14.6% | 71,913 | 62,782 | 14.5% |
| Carnival | 5,928 | 4,557 | 30.1% | 39,080 | 25,640 | 52.4% |
| Total | 71,123 | 63,580 | 11.9% | 487,634 | 450,040 | 8.4% |
“Kia is steadily progressing toward its highest annual sales record and an all-time high market share, fueled by record-breaking consumer sales growth,” said Eric Watson, vice-president, sales operations, Kia America.
He added, “As our SUV lineup maintains double-digit growth month after month, we recently rolled out a new ad campaign for the 2026 Sportage, which offers the ideal combination of efficiency and capability. As Kia’s longest-running nameplate, our customers have a strong sense of connection to Sportage, and we are fostering similar connections between our customers and other models.”
At this point, the brand might lean more heavily into its gas-burners because it appears that, unless something unexpected happens, the EV side of the business won’t be able to match last year’s performance.
