June was a defining month for Hyundai Motor America, Kia America and Mazda North American Operations, with strong June results driving record vehicle sales for the first six months of the year.
Fountain Valley-based Hyundai said June delivered the company’s best sales yet.
“June capped off a record-setting month and delivered the strongest quarter and first half in Hyundai Motor America history,” Chief Executive Randy Parker said in a statement.
The automaker sold 245,180 vehicles in the second quarter, up 4% compared to last year and driven by June sales of 77,555 units – an 11% increase from a year ago.
The company said last month’s hybrid vehicle sales – such as the Santa Fe, Sonata and Tucson HEVs – “were the primary driver of total sales growth.”
Collectively, Hyundai has sold 450,568 cars in the first six months of 2026.
Its sister company, Kia America in Irvine, also reported a record-setting June this year with a total of 70,507 vehicles sold during the month.
Kia has sold 430,727 units year-to-date as of June 30, just behind Hyundai’s six-month totals.
“Kia’s record-breaking first half sales performance was seen across our entire lineup of sedans and SUVs,” said Eric Watson, vice president of sales operations. “The results illustrate our ability to react to shifting market demands by resetting our showrooms with the right mix of ICE (internal combustion engines), hybrid and electrified models.”
The Hyundai Motor Group’s metaplant facility in Georgia began production of Kia’s Sportage hybrid model during the quarter, marking the manufacturing plant’s first time building a Kia model.
Mazda saw vehicle sales jump 11% in June to 37,167 sold, marking another record June for the OC automaker. Year-to-date, Mazda has sold 201,834 vehicles.
Rivian Ups Forecast; Raises Another $1.32B
Rivian Automotive Inc. this month reported that second-quarter deliveries jumped 14% and announced it would raise over $1 billion to partially repay a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.
On July 2, Rivian said it produced 12,613 EVs and delivered 12,194 in the second quarter, surpassing its outlook of 9,000 to 11,000 vehicles. Second-quarter deliveries increased 14% from the 10,661 vehicles a year ago and production more than doubled from last year’s 5,979.
The Irvine-based automaker now expects to deliver a range of 65,000 to 70,000 in 2026, up from its prior guidance of 62,000 to 67,000 vehicles – reflecting a possible increase of 54% to 66% from 2025.
The increase in second-quarter deliveries was driven by “robust growth quarter-over-quarter in (electric delivery vans) EDV and R1 coupled with the introduction of R2 deliveries,” the company said in a statement.
Combined first- and second-quarter deliveries totaled 22,559 EVs in the first six months of 2026. The automaker is up 17% in deliveries this year compared to 19,301 at the same time in 2025.
All vehicles are currently constructed at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Ill.
In the two trading sessions after the delivery announcement, shares rose 17% to $20.14. However, after the company announced the sale of 75 million shares, the stock fell 18% to $16.49 on July 7 and a $22.6 billion market cap. Rivian ended up selling 86.25 million shares, priced at $15.50 each, for $1.32 billion, according to a regulatory filing (Nasdaq: RIVN).
—Emily Santiago-Molina