Kia’s Best January Ever Still Only Amounts To RAV4 Plus Camry

Kia just wrapped up its best-ever January, moving 57,007 cars out of its showrooms and into customers’ hands. The big winner last month was the Kia K4, which (combined with sales of its out-of-production Forte predecessor) sold 11,616 units, up from last January’s 8,977. Clearly, the compact sedan’s edgy styling is resonating with consumers, outselling its Hyundai Elantra cousin by nearly 2,800 units. Even so, the dated Toyota Corolla remains the small car juggernaut, with 17,341 sales in January. Even combined, the two Koreans only amount to about 3,000 more units than the ‘Rolla.

January Was A Great Month For SUVs

All three automakers enjoyed great sales for their small crossovers. The Kia Sportage was right behind the K4 with 11,357 sales in January, up a fair amount from the 9,994 sold in January 2024. The Hyundai Tucson enjoyed an even bigger sales jump, moving from 11,116 a year ago to 15,025 sold last month. The Toyota RAV4, meanwhile, suffered a scant 0.1 percent sales loss year over year, but don’t feel too bad: The company still moved 36,250 units.

Among EVs, the Toyota BZ4x enjoyed a shocking 300-percent increase year over year, moving from 513 sold to 2,242, enough for it to outsell the sleek Kia EV6 (1,542 units). The mediocre Toyota EV also nearly beat out the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which racked up 2,250 sales. All of them fell behind the (newly cheaper) Ford Mustang Mach-E (3,529 units) and Honda Prologue (3,744 units) during January 2025, however. And although GM only reports sales numbers by quarter, it’s possible the inexpensive Equinox EV would rank highly as well, since it found 28,874 homes in 2024 despite only going on sale in May – an average of 3,609 per month.

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Korea Dominates The Family Crossover Game

There is one segment in which the South Korean carmakers convincingly trounced Toyota: midsize SUVs. Last month, Kia sold 6,871 Sorentos, up a bit from 2024, while Hyundai found 8,296 homes for the Santa Fe. The Highlander, meanwhile, suffered a staggering 73.3-percent decline year over year, dropping to just 2,672 units. The Grand Highlander also saw its sales drop to 5,585 units in January, down from 6,581 a year ago, which opened the door for 6,687 Hyundai Palisades and 8,771 Kia Tellurides to take the lead.

January is typically a rather slow month for vehicle sales. Hot on the heels of the shopping-intensive holiday season, many consumers aren’t opening their wallets for anything but the essentials. Despite that handicap, the Telluride enjoyed its best-ever start to the year, as did the Carnival minivan. The tide may turn if looming threats of tariffs become actual concerns, but for now, the South Korean automakers are sitting pretty.