It’s officially fall, and with the third quarter of 2026 now wrapped up, it’s time to comb through the sales charts to see which automakers have found success in Q3 and which ones will be hoping to rebound in the final three months of the year. Our list of the 25 bestselling cars, trucks, and SUVs for 2026 will be updated with Q3 data once full information is available later this month, but for now, we’ve assembled a list of winners and losers from the third quarter of 2026.
Read about the winners and losers from the first two quarters: Q1 2026 | Q2 2026
Winner: Kia
Kia set a third-quarter sales record with 236,659 units sold, up 8 percent year-over-year. The growth was driven by Kia’s SUVs, with the redesigned Seltos racking up 25,703 sales in Q3, up 70 percent year-over-year. The Sorento, meanwhile, saw a 21 percent increase in Q3, while the Telluride was up 18 percent and the Sportage improved by 8 percent. The Carnival minivan also helped with a 19 percent increase, and Kia’s cars, the K4 and K5, also had a healthy quarter, up 17 and 13 percent, respectively.
Winner: Chevrolet Corvette
The iconic Corvette had a great third quarter, registering 6585 sales, an increase of 29 percent year-over-year. That puts the Corvette just over the 20,000-unit mark through the end of September, up 13 percent so far this year. The Corvette was one of the sole bright points in a Chevy lineup that is lagging, with the overall brand down 5 percent in Q3 and 6 percent on the year.
Winner: Hyundai
Kia’s corporate sister also set a record Q3 result, up 3 percent year-over-year. The success was powered by Hyundai’s bestseller, the Tucson SUV, which improved by 23 percent in Q3 to 64,075 units. Hyundai’s sedans also saw success, with the Elantra up 18 percent and the Sonata up 34 percent in the third quarter.
Winner: Ram 1500
The light-duty Ram 1500 surged in the third quarter, racking up 76,650 sales, a 73 percent increase over the same period last year. That puts the truck up 41 percent on the year, at 202,147 units sold through the end of September.
Winner: BMW 3-Series
BMW just revealed the next-generation 3-series, but the current model is going out with a bang, notching 11,256 sales in the third quarter, up 46 percent. The 3-series is nearly at 30,000 units on the year, up 37 percent through the first nine months, making it BMW’s third-bestselling model so far in 2026.
Loser: Cadillac
Cadillac is having a rough 2026, with sales down 30 percent in Q3 and 25 percent year-to-date. The brand’s lineup of electric SUVs had a brutal third quarter, with the Lyriq down 51 percent, the Vistiq down 34 percent, the Escalade IQ down 29 percent, and the Optiq down 7 percent. The discontinuation of the XT6 hasn’t helped the overall figures, and even the gas-powered Escalade struggled in Q3, down 15 percent.
Losers: Korean EVs
While Hyundai and Kia both had a great third quarter overall, their electric models have hit a wall. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 was down 53 percent in Q3 and is down 24 percent year-to-date, while sales of the Ioniq 9 decreased 47 percent in Q3. Over at Kia, the EV6 dropped 57 percent in Q3 and 77 percent through the first three quarters, while the EV9 slid 28 percent in Q3. Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis is also struggling to move EVs, with the GV60 down 53 percent on the year with just 816 units sold, and the Electrified GV70 down 87 percent year-to-date with just 234 units sold.
Loser: Ford
Ford as a whole saw a 6 percent decline in Q3 with 490,276 units sold, and is down 8 percent on the year. The F-150’s 2 percent drop in Q3 didn’t help, and neither has the discontinuation of the Escape compact crossover, which has dropped by 75 percent on the year to just 28,826 units sold. Ford’s only EV, the Mustang Mach-E, is also having a tough time, down 72 percent in Q3 to just 5574 units and down 59 percent on the year.
Loser: Chevrolet EVs
There’s a trend emerging here: EV sales are still hurting bad. Chevy has been hit really hard. The Equinox EV was down 92 percent in Q3 to just 1905 units, and is down 66 percent on the year. The Blazer EV dropped by 84 percent in Q3 to 1261 units, and is down 79 percent year-to-date. The Silverado EV slid 58 percent in Q3, and its corporate cousin, the GMC Sierra EV, also experienced a 51 percent drop. Meanwhile, Chevy has only managed to move 8090 units of the revived Bolt so far in 2026.
Loser: Jeep
Aside from the Ram 1500, things are looking dire at Stellantis, and Jeep sales declined 20 percent in Q3, putting the brand down 8 percent through the first nine months of the year. The Compass dropped 62 percent, while the Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer both slipped by 30 percent. And unsurprisingly, the electric Jeep Wagoneer S was down by 96 percent in Q3, with just 146 units sold.
➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.
Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.
Source: www.caranddriver.com
