√Hyundai and Kia neck and neck in 2022 new-car sales race

South Korean siblings Hyundai and Kia are in a race like never before. For the first time in Australian automotive history, young gun Kia is on track to outsell Hyundai this year.

The sales battle between sibling South Korean brands Hyundai and Kia has hit top gear in the lead-up to the end of the year.

The jointly-owned car giants are locked in a neck-and-neck race to the finish line in 2022 – and the battle could deliver savings to buyers looking to drive a bargain.

Kia has outsold Hyundai year-to-date every month so far this year, the first time it has outsold its partner brand over such a sustained period of time in Australia.

Over the past eight years, Hyundai sales have experienced a steady decline as Kia sales have climbed.

The latest official sales figures show Kia has reported 66,580 cars sold to the end of October 2022 (up 14.5 per cent year-to-date in a market that has plateaued, up 0.9 per cent).

The Kia tally is about 3200 deliveries more than Hyundai (63,392 new cars reported as sold over the same period, up 5.2 per cent over the same period).

Both brands are experiencing severe stock shortages and are holding more orders than they have cars to deliver.

However, the close competition between the two sibling rivals means if any cars become available in showrooms, they will be quick to do a deal to report the car as sold and clock up an extra sale.

As previously reported, Hyundai and Kia cars share jointly-developed cars, engines, and technology – but the vehicles have unique styling and are built in separate factories.

Both brands arrived in Australia via independent distributors – initially with a limited range of cars, with Hyundai from 1986 and Kia from 1992 – but their local operations are now subsidiaries of their parent companies in South Korea.

Kia versus Hyundai sales so far this year:

2022	Kia (monthly sales)	Kia (year-to-date sales)	Hyundai (monthly sales)	Hyundai (year-to-date sales)
January	5520	5520	5128	5128
February	5881	11,401	5649	10,777
March	6051	17,452	6516	17,293
April	6180	23,632	5552	22,845
May	7307	30,939	7063	29,908
June	8480	39,419	8259	38,167
July	6711	46,130	6792	44,959
August	6780	52,910	6643	51,602
September	7290	60,200	6501	58,103
October	6380	66,580	5289	63,392