Ford Narrowly Beats Hyundai to Stay America's No. 3 Car Seller

Ford held onto its spot as the third-biggest car seller in the United States — but only just. Many experts had predicted that Hyundai, a South Korean car company, would finally pass Ford for the first time. Instead, Ford squeaked by with a tiny lead.

Here's how the two companies did in the third quarter (the three-month period from July to September), known in business as Q3:

• Ford: 507,395 light-duty vehicles sold (smaller trucks and cars) — a drop of 6.6% compared to the same period last year
• Hyundai (which includes its Kia and luxury Genesis brands): 506,200 vehicles — an increase of 5.4%

Why Ford has been struggling: The company had problems building its popular F-Series pickup trucks after two supplier fires last year disrupted production. Ford also stopped making certain models, like the Ford Escape, which lowered its overall sales numbers.

The good news? Ford says its truck production is recovering. F-Series sales fell only 1.9%, and the company expects a strong final quarter of the year. Across the full year so far, Ford still leads Hyundai by around 89,700 vehicles.

Electric vehicle (EV) sales took a big hit. Ford's EV sales dropped about 80% in Q3 and 67.5% so far this year. One reason: last year, many Americans rushed to buy EVs before the government ended a federal tax incentive (a discount of up to $7,500 that reduced the cost of buying an electric car). That created unusually high sales last year, making this year's numbers look weak by comparison.

The bottom line: Ford remains No. 3 for now, but Hyundai is closing in fast. Ford argues the comparison isn't quite fair, since Hyundai and Kia operate as separate brands even though they share the same parent company. The competition is clearly heating up.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/02/ford-q3-sales.html