KIA expands U.S. footprint as Telluride and EVs dominate

South Korean automaker KIA just shattered its own records again, as ￰0￱ poured money into electric and gas SUVs at a pace the industry hasn’t seen in ￰1￱ models like the Sorento crossover, K4 sedan, and, of course, the ubiquitous Telluride three-row SUV are everywhere, it ￰2￱ then there are the electric EV6 and ￰3￱ vehicles led Kia to smash sales expectations again, with September US sales hitting a record 65,000 units sold, an 11% jump from a year ago, with full third quarter sales climbing 9% to another record high. Year‑to‑date sales are now 8.9% higher, according to Eric Watson, KIA America’s vice president of sales. “We had a great September, and you know, it’s really been every month of this year, our sales are building,” Eric said.

“We’re up almost 9% year‑to‑date, so we continue to build strength every single month.” The momentum comes from a wave of fresh models that have flooded ￰4￱ Sorento crossover, K4 sedan, and Telluride SUV have all become regular sights in suburban driveways, while the electric EV6 and EV9 have captured buyers chasing battery‑powered options without Tesla price ￰5￱ five models alone have pushed the brand to new territory, keeping production lines running close to full ￰6￱ expands ￰7￱ as Telluride and EVs dominate KIA, which is actually South Korea’s second‑largest automaker behind Hyundai, entered the ￰8￱ in 1993 with the Sephia and ￰9￱ sold slowly, as Americans saw the brand as a budget ￰10￱ changed when KIA introduced a 10‑year or 100,000‑mile powertrain warranty, a move that shocked the industry and helped calm skeptical ￰11￱ gains followed, leading to the opening of its first ￰12￱ plant in West Point, Georgia in ￰13￱ then, the company leaned into humor with oddball ads like the 2010 “Black Sheep” rapping hamsters promoting the Kia Soul, carving out a niche ￰14￱ 2017 marked a turning point when the high‑performance Stinger GT ￰15￱ car earned strong reviews from “2 Dudes in a Car” hosts Rick Newman and Eric Watson, signaling a new level of seriousness for the ￰16￱ real game‑changer, though, was the Telluride, which Eric said was “a huge piece of redefining who we were as a brand.” The Telluride’s three‑row layout, comfortable cabin, and sub‑$37,000 starting price helped it dominate middle‑ and upper‑middle‑class neighborhoods nationwide.

“You start to see Telluride as one of the two vehicles in their driveway,” Eric said. “If they bought a Telluride, perhaps the next car they replace also becomes a KIA.” Around 2021, KIA overhauled its logo and revamped dealerships, with 60% of ￰17￱ rebuilt or expanded to handle rising ￰18￱ same wave carried the EV9, a large electric SUV styled like a Range Rover, into strong early sales and another positive “2 Dudes” ￰19￱ faces labor raids, theft lawsuits, and new production goals While KIA’s ￰20￱ keeps accelerating, it hasn’t avoided ￰21￱ September 9, a federal raid at the Hyundai‑LG battery complex in Ellabell, Georgia led to 300 South Korean workers being detained for immigration violations, just two days after President Donald Trump warned foreign firms to obey American labor ￰22￱ raid delayed the plant’s opening and briefly threatened relations between the administration and Korean ￰23￱ has built most of its ￰24￱ in non‑union states, keeping costs lower and sticker prices ￰25￱ Trump White House, known for backing domestic factory jobs but not unions, has tolerated the approach despite the ￰26￱ major headache was the “KIA Challenge,” viral TikTok trend showing how to steal older KIA and Hyundai models that lacked electronic ￰27￱ exploded until a software fix rolled out ￰28￱ so, the company paid a $200 million settlement after owners ￰29￱ says ￰30￱ can now produce electric, hybrid, and gas models on the same lines to meet shifting ￰31￱ models are coming, including an updated Telluride that, in his words, will take the brand to “new heights.” Globally, KIA projects 3.22 million vehicle shipments this year, up 4.1%, with revenue expected to rise 4.7%.

In the U. S., it plans to increase market share from 5.1% to over 6% and increase sales 7% year‑over‑year. A new electric pickup is also coming to North America, expected to sell 90,000 units a year once production ￰32￱ you're reading this, you’re already ￰33￱ there with our newsletter .