- Hyundai has reported its best first half of sales in company history in early 2026.
- Now hybrids account for 33% of sales.
- Hybrid sales are up 74% in June 2026.
2026 has had a great start for Korean automaker Hyundai. The company’s local arm, Hyundai Motor America, has just published its June sales figures, which include figures for the second quarter and first half of 2026. Hyundai has 450,568 reasons to celebrate.
Hyundai sold 450,568 units in the first half of 2026, up 3.0 percent from last year when it sold 439,280 vehicles. This is the best first half of sales in the company’s history, resulting in the best June ever. Hyundai sold 77,555 units last month, an increase of 11.0 percent year-on-year. Total sales in the second quarter stood at 245,180 units, up 4.0 percent.
June was a particularly strong month for Hyundai models across various segments. The following models saw year-over-year growth compared to June 2025:
- Elantra (up 22.0%)
- Ionic 9 (up 21.0%)
- Palisade (up 23.0%)
- Santa Fe (up 1.0%)
- Sonata (up 36.0%)
- Tucson (up 20.0%)
- Location (up 20.0%)
Looking more broadly, Hyundai saw massive growth with its electrified models in the month of June. The Santa Fe Hybrid improved by 12.0 percent, the Tucson Hybrid increased by 14.0 percent and Sonata Hybrid sales increased by 246.0 percent.
Overall, Hyundai hybrid sales saw an increase of 74.0 percent compared to June 2025, 71.0 percent in the second quarter and 67.0 percent in the first half of the year so far.
| Sample | 2026 YTD sales | 2025 YTD sales | % Change |
| Elantra | 79,839 | 74,768 | 7% |
| ionic 5 | 20,730 | 19,092 | 9% |
| ionic 6 | 1,241 | 6,322 | -80% |
| ionic 9 | 4,858 | 1,013 | 380% |
|
Kona |
36,169 | 39,828 | -9% |
| balustrade | 63,453 | 57,197 | 11% |
| Santa Cruz | 9,981 | 14,221 | -30% |
| Santa Fe | 64,003 | 65,078 | -2% |
| sonata | 37,057 | 32,986 | 12% |
| tucson | 117,612 | 113,310 | 4% |
| venue | 15,625 | 15,463 | 1% |
Hyundai says electrified vehicles, which include hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, now account for 33.0 percent of the company’s sales. If you take hybrids out of the equation and only count EVs, that percentage is likely much lower, but it’s impossible to say for sure because Hyundai doesn’t break out Kona Electric sales from total Kona numbers.
The Kona Electric isn’t a big seller, which is why that model is skipping the 2026 model year. If we include only Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Ioniq 9, sales of EVs are 26,829 units or about 5.9 percent. The Ioniq 6 was also discontinued (except for the Ioniq 6 N), so it’s not surprising to see an 80.0 percent decline in sales this year. Despite the expiration of the federal tax credit, Ioniq 5 sales increased 9.0 percent to 20,730 units, while Ioniq 9 sales increased 380.0 percent to 4,858 units.
Motor1’s Opinion: Hyundai has recently expressed interest in following Toyota in making some models hybrid-only. Based on the success of its hybrid models, this seems like a smart move.
