Strong sales of electric and electrified vehicles boosted overall U.S. auto sales during August, with manufacturers including Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Toyota and Ford Motor Co. and Honda reporting solid gains and, in some cases, record sales. More from Headlight.News.
The EV6 is one of the reasons Kia sales have held up so well.
With most automakers choosing to swallow the cost of the new Trump tariffs, rather than risk driving price-sensitive buyers out of the market, August closed on an unexpectedly positive note.
Among the manufacturers who’ve now reported sales for the month, light vehicles sales showed indications of rising by as much as 4% year-over-year.
Hyundai was among several manufacturers setting records for the month, with a 12% increase. The Korean carmaker benefited, in particular, from a 72% year-over-year surge in EV demand – which came in the face of the Trump administration’s push to shut off the electric-vehicle tax credit, which officially ends September 30. The same trend was seen across the industry.
South Koreans post strong numbers
The updated 2026 GV70 has been a hit for Genesis.
“August was an exceptional month for us, with retail and total sales pacing well above our previous best August results,” said Randy Parker, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America. “This momentum keeps us firmly on track for our best year ever. We’re especially proud of the record-breaking results from key models like the Elantra HEV, Palisade, and IONIQ 5, which continue to resonate strongly with customers,” Parker added.
Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis also reports its best-ever August, sales of 7,925 vehicles translating into a 7% gain over prior year numbers. And the newly updated GV70 crossover delivered its best-ever sales.
At Kia, deliveries rose 10% to 83,007 vehicles — the brand’s all-time best month in the U.S.
Ford enjoys solid August
The Ford Maverick hybrid continues to lure buyers in.
Ford vehicle sales were up 3.9% in August to 190,206, led by a 19.3% increase in the sale of electric vehicles and +14.5% for hybrids. That marked the best month ever for Ford’s hybrids. The company sold 160,762 vehicles with an internal combustion engine (ICE), an increase of 2% from August 2024.
Ford’s SUV sales were up 6.2%, followed by a 2.4% increase in truck sales, and 2.2% increase in car sales. Ford’s sales standouts for the month include the Expedition, Mustang Mach-E and Bronco, with sales up 53.7%, 35.3% and 32.0%, respectively, year-over-year.
Conversely, Lincoln Aviator sales were down 45.5%, dragging down the Lincoln brand overall, with a 14.9% downturn for the month.
August was good month for Japanese carmakers
The newly renamed Toyota bZ.
Toyota Motor North America reported August 2025 U.S. sales of 225,367 vehicles, up 13.6%. Toyota Division sales for the month totaled 191,999 vehicles, up 13.8%. Lexus Division sales for the month totaled 33,368 vehicles, up 12.4%.
Like Ford and the three Korean brand’s Toyota’s sales of electrified vehicle saw solid gains for August, sales totaling 103,044 vehicles, a 9% increase. Significantly, electrified models – including hybrids, PHEVs and EV, represented 45.7% of total U.S. sales for the month. For the full year, electrified sales totaled 807,316, up 27.9% — equaling 48.1% of Toyota’s total sales volume.
American Honda sales increased by 4.4% to 132,734 units in August, with record sales of electrified models, record sales of all-new products and strong performance across the board of light trucks and passenger cars. Honda said the year-over-year sales comparison is impacted by higher than usual August 2024 sales that resulted from the recovery of a major ransomware attack on a dealer software provider that pushed June and July sales into August 2024.
Subaru of America, Inc. said its sales dropped 2.9% to 61,220 units in August 2025. This marks the second consecutive August of reaching more than 60,000 vehicles sold in a month, and the 23rd time the automaker has exceeded the milestone overall, Subaru reported.
Market remains “resilient”
The 2026 Kia Sportage line.
The guessing game is how much longer the market can hold up. Industry analysts had expected to see automakers start passing on more of the Trump tariffs by now but most manufacturers have been reluctant to do so and risk losing their competitive edge. So, while Kia did raise prices for the newly updated 2026 Sportage, marketing chief Russell Wagers told Headlight.News that was “solely to cover the higher level of content.
But other manufacturers have begun signaling they may have to start letting 2026 model prices begin to creep up.
For now, though Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said August’s sales numbers remained healthy. If anything, the market got a solid boost from the EV sector, with many buyers racing to take advantage of tax credits set to expire at the end of September.
“The macro themes didn’t seem to change much in August as spending in aggregate remains resilient and the retail vehicle market remains strong,” Smoke said.
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