Combined U.S. sales at Hyundai Motor America and Kia Motors fell 5.1 percent to 104,864 in July, with retail sales at Hyundai rising slightly to counter a sharp 51 percent drop in combined fleet deliveries at the Hyundai and Genesis brands.
Sales at Hyundai Motor America totaled 51,752 last month, a 4 percent fall from the previous year.
Hyundai's crossover sales dipped 0.8 percent in July. However, sales of the new Kona subcompact crossover exceeded 4,000.
The redesigned 2019 Santa Fe went on sale in July, resulting in 8, 275 deliveries last month for the nameplate.
While Hyundai car sales declined 3.8 percent, the brand saw some successes on the car side, with sales increases coming from the Elantra and redesigned Veloster. But Genesis volume slumped for the seventh straight month.
Brands: Hyundai down 2.4%; Kia off 5.8%; Genesis down 63%
Notable nameplates: Hyundai Elantra up 3.5%; Kia Optima up 38%; Kia Sorento up 23%; Kia Sportage off 1.8%; Kia Soul down 37%; Hyundai Veloster up 13%; Hyundai Sonata down 10%; Hyundai Santa Fe off 35%.
Incentives: Hyundai down 2.8% per unit to $2,860; Kia up 1.4% to $3,919, according to ALG.
Average transaction price: Hyundai down 2.9% to $22,122; Kia down 1.4% to $22,477, ALG estimates.
Quote: "We are pleased that Hyundai retail sales were up slightly year-over-year despite two less selling days and one less sales weekend, in an industry we anticipate will be down for the month," said John Angevine, director of national sales at Hyundai Motor America. "SUV mix has taken hold at nearly 50 percent of our volume and we expect that number to increase as inventory of Santa Fe hits dealers in bigger numbers."
Did you know? Kia outsold the Hyundai brand by 1,975 units in July.