Hyundai Set to Outsell Ford for First Time Ever in Q3

A major shift is happening in the U.S. car market. For the first time ever, Hyundai — the South Korean carmaker — is expected to sell more vehicles than Ford in a single quarter, according to a new forecast from Cox Automotive.

A "quarter" is a three-month period companies use to report their business results. This forecast covers July through September 2026.

Here are the key numbers Cox predicts for the third quarter:

• Hyundai: 511,421 vehicles sold, up 6.5% from a year earlier
• Ford: 504,172 vehicles sold, down 7.1% from a year earlier

A "year-over-year" change compares this period to the same period last year, showing whether a company is growing or shrinking.

If this holds, Hyundai would become the 3rd best-selling automaker in the U.S., behind only General Motors (GM) and Toyota.

Why is Ford struggling? Two main reasons:

1. Ford had supplier factory fires last year that disrupted production of its popular F-Series pickup trucks. 2. Detroit carmakers (Ford and GM) offer few hybrid vehicles — cars that combine a gas engine with an electric motor to save fuel. These are booming in popularity as gas prices stay high, averaging $4.48 per gallon.

Meanwhile, hybrid-leader Toyota is closing in on GM for the #1 spot. Cox predicts:

• GM: 671,706 vehicles, down 5.2%
• Toyota: 642,707 vehicles, up 2.2%

For the full year, Toyota trails GM by fewer than 121,100 vehicles — and could overtake it, which would only be the second time ever.

The bigger picture: Cox raised its 2026 forecast for total U.S. car sales by about 2%, to 16.1 million vehicles, calling the market "resilient" despite economic pressures.

Bottom line: Consumers want fuel-efficient hybrids, and companies that don't offer them — like the Detroit brands — are losing ground to competitors that do.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/hyundai-set-to-outsell-ford-in-q3-as-detroit-automakers-lack-hybrids.html