Both Hyundai and Kia have found incredible success in the large three-row SUV segment with the Palisade and Telluride. They also have some of the best EV platforms on the market. So, naturally, the two brands had to combine the two, with Kia’s EV9 leading the charge, followed by the Hyundai Ioniq 9. Obviously, they weren’t going to match the combustion models to start with, but for most of this year, they’ve done well.
Recently, though, the two have slammed into the wall when it comes to sales.
2027 Hyundai Ioniq 9 Calligraphy Black InkCarBuzz/Valnet
The Hyundai’s Month Was Worse
In September, Hyundai sold just 372 Ioniq 9s. That’s a low number on its own, but also compared to last year. It’s a decrease of 65% from last September, when Hyundai managed to move slightly more than 1,000. Perhaps more worrying is that monthly sales have been dropping each month since June.
As for the Kia EV9, it sold better in September, though still with a big decline compared to last year. A total of 1,955 EV9s found owners this month, down from 3,094 last year. It looks bad, but compared to the last few months, it’s actually up. This was the EV9’s best month for volume, even if it didn’t match last year. Also, besides a couple of weak months (January and February), Kia has managed to sell at least 1,200 EV9s.
How Do Sales Look For The Whole Year?
Here’s the other interesting aspect of sales for these two SUVs. For the whole year, the Ioniq 9 is way ahead of last 2025. Hyundai has moved 6,521 examples, 56% more than last year’s 4,177. It’s also Hyundai’s only electric car that’s up for the year. The Ioniq 5 is down by 24%, though it is still outselling the Ioniq 9 with more than 30,000 sales. The Ioniq 6 is also way down, but it’s also been discontinued, so it’s not really fair to compare it with the others.
Kia EV9 in whiteKia
The Kia EV9, having been around a little longer, isn’t seeing a giant improvement, but it also isn’t down. It’s basically dead even with 12,429 sales so far this year, and 12,448 for last year. Impressively, the EV9 is outselling the smaller, cheaper EV6, which dropped into four digit sales this year. The only Kia EV doing better year-over-year is the EV3, but since it just hit dealers recently, Kia didn’t sell any last year.
Kia EV9 from the rearKia
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Even though the Ioniq 9 is up a fair bit this year, Hyundai should be concerned about how the SUV is doing. Multiple consecutive down months doesn’t look good, especially when those numbers aren’t big to begin with. Something the brand may want to consider is offering a smaller battery option, like Kia does with the EV9, in order to get the price down. The Kia currently starts at $4,000 less than the Hyundai, which surely gets the attention of customers, even if many buyers upgrade anyway.
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT front three quarterHyundai
Hyundai might even want to consider adding an XRT trim, like it did with the Ioniq 5 and even the Palisade. Off-road trims are still quite popular across all segments. Plus, a rugged 3-row SUV would be fairly unique among mainstream brands, with the only real competitor being the much more expensive Rivian R1S. Although, it does look like Kia might be readying its own rugged option for the EV9.
No matter its course, Hyundai needs to do something if it wants to find a steady rhythm like Kia seems to have.