Photo: Hyundai
After five red-hot months in a row, Hyundai sales came back down to earth a bit in August. Primarily due to inventory issues and microchip shortages that have affected the entire industry, the automaker reported a 4 percent decrease in U.S. sales for the month.
Elantra, Sonata, and More: Get the details on Hyundai’s impressive sedan lineup
Hyundai sold 56,200 units in August. Of those sales, 51,950 took place on the retail side — a 7 percent decrease from the same month a year ago.
Bright spots for Hyundai last month included an 8 percent increase in car sales, a 245 percent increase for eco-friendly models like the Ioniq, and new August sales records for models like the Venue and the Kona EV.
“Importantly, consumer demand for Hyundai vehicles remains at an all-time high and we expect our inventory pipeline to improve throughout the remainder of the year,” said Randy Parker, Hyundai Motor America’s senior vice president of national sales.
August’s top-selling Hyundai models
August was an especially strong month for Hyundai car sales. The Elantra compact sedan was up 20 percent with 10,942 sales. The Sonata midsize sedan sold 8,277 units for a 4 percent increase. The Ioniq hatchback lineup — which includes EV, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid options — posted a 21 percent increase with 1,060 units sold.
Inventory issues kept Hyundai SUVs from achieving their usual strong numbers. Leading the way for August was the compact Tucson with 11,151 sales — a 4 percent decrease. Other leading SUV models like the three-row Palisade (7,705 units), midsize Santa Fe (7,207 units), and subcompact Kona (5,582 units) were down for the month, too. Bucking this trend, the subcompact Venue made a solid gain of 8 percent on the strength of 1,768 sales — its best August ever.
For more on Hyundai — including news, model overviews, and more — check out our brand coverage here at The News Wheel.
A longtime editor/writer and recently transplanted Hoosier, Caleb Cook lives in Xenia, Ohio. His favorite activities are reading and listening to music, although he occasionally emerges from the heap of books and vinyl records in his basement to stand blinking in the sunlight. Once fully acclimated to the outside world again, he can be observed hanging out with his wife, attempting a new recipe in the kitchen, attending movies, walking the dog, or wandering into a local brewery to inquire about what’s on tap. See more articles by Caleb.