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Despite both being part of the greater Hyundai Motor Company globally, separate management and distribution in Australia sees Hyundai and Kia face off as rivals Down Under.
For the fourth year in a row, Kia has beaten its parent company, Hyundai, on Australia’s new car sales charts.
While the two companies are connected, thanks to the Hyundai Motor Company’s 34 per cent ownership stake in Kia, independent management and distribution in Australia sees them positioned as rivals.
In 2025, Kia managed to finish as Australia’s fourth-best-selling brand, behind Toyota, Ford, and Mazda.
Kia sold 82,105 new vehicles for the year, accounting for a 6.7 per cent share of sales in Australia, ahead of the 77,208 Hyundais sold, representing a 5.9 per cent slice of new car sales.
Hyundai’s line-up includes 17 passenger and commercial vehicle model lines reported to VFACTS, compared to 15 for Kia.
Kia’s biggest-selling single model, the Sportage medium SUV, recorded 19,137 sales, hot on the heels of the Tucson, which managed 20,145 sales.
As Hyundai’s biggest-selling model, the Kona recorded 22,769 sales across petrol-only, hybrid and EV models.
Seltos managed less than half that figure, with 9223 sales in the segment, but a further 2597 units of the EV3 small electric SUV, and 454 Niro hybrid and electric small SUVs for 12,274 accumulated small SUV sales.
Hyundai’s two large SUVs, the Santa Fe (6264) and Palisade (2364), totalled 8628 sales, while Kia’s single Sorento in the same segment still surpassed Hyundai’s total, on 8745 sales.
Kia also fielded the EV5 electric medium SUV, with 4787 sales, where Hyundai had no alternative. The Hyundai Elexio will fill that role in 2026, but its very late 2025 announcement saw only 4 units counted in the VFACTS report, with official sales commencing in 2026.
Kia also launched the Tasman ute, another vehicle for which Hyundai doesn't offer a rival.
Although the Tasman didn't make the strongest start in the 4x2 and 4x4 ute categories, it added 4196 vehicles to Kia’s tally.
While Hyundai lacks a ute, it does offer a commercial van in the Staria Load, which sold 2917 units with no competing model from Kia.
Kia remains untouchable in the people mover market, selling 10,984 Carnivals, compared to just 1205 examples of the Staria people mover.
Hyundai’s i30 small hatch and sedan, with 10,688 sales, managed to outpace the combined small car efforts of the Cerato (1094), which was replaced with the K4 (6626), adding a total of 7720 sales in the small passenger car segment.
Expect the tables to turn here in 2026, with Hyundai withdrawing mainstream versions of the i30 hatch at the same time as Kia introduces the K4 hatchback that was missing from the line-up until recently.
Kia’s overall growth of 0.4 per cent across its range was only minor, outpaced by Hyundai’s 7.7 per cent increase, but despite a bigger gain in momentum, Hyundai couldn't overtake Kia in 2025.
Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.
