The US market slowed in October, and most of the brands that report every month did not. Cox Automotive’s November 5 estimate puts the seasonally adjusted selling pace at 15.5 million, below September’s 16 million and the slowest since January. A year earlier it was 15.7 million, and Cox had forecast 16.1 million for this October. The shortfall, Cox says, came from retail buyers, with fleet sales up nearly 6%, and it blames a weak stock market, election uncertainty, poor consumer confidence and rising loan rates.
Hyundai Motor Group’s Kia and Hyundai brands set October records anyway, and the Honda brand grew by almost a tenth. Ford Motor stood still even though its trucks grew: the gap came from one small SUV that has all but left the lineup.
| Brand (parent) | October 2026 | Change vs October 2025 | Year to date vs 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota (Toyota Motor North America) | 188,392 | +5.7% | +1.6% |
| Lexus (Toyota Motor North America) | 33,115 | +11.6% | -1.5% |
| Ford (Ford Motor Co.) | 165,474 | -0.4% | -7.7% |
| Lincoln (Ford Motor Co.) | 7,968 | -1.6% | -10.9% |
| Honda (American Honda) | 109,162 | +9.1% | +5.1% |
| Acura (American Honda) | 10,790 | -2.5% | +2.5% |
| Kia (Hyundai Motor Group) | 80,008 | +16.0% | +6.0% |
| Hyundai (Hyundai Motor Group) | 73,452 | +4.8% | +3.0% |
| Genesis (Hyundai Motor Group) | 6,623 | -5.6% | +7.3% |
| Subaru | 54,090 | +6.0% | n/a |
| Mazda | 31,446 | +25.0% | -0.9% |
Subaru’s 2026 year to date includes early-year units under review and is not shown.
Kia and Hyundai beat every earlier October
Kia sold 80,008 vehicles, 16.0% more than a year earlier and more than in any previous October. Kia’s October release puts its retail sales at a record 68,926, up 20%, in the month Cox says retail buyers held back, and credits its hybrids, the new EV3 and the all-new Telluride and Seltos. The three-row Kia Telluride did the most, adding 5,438 sales to reach 14,009, and three other Kia SUVs, led by the Seltos, added a little more again between them.
Hyundai sold 73,452, beating its previous best October, set in 2024. The Santa Fe carried the month, up 6,159 to 17,959, while the Tucson lost almost as many. Genesis, the group’s luxury brand, was the one Hyundai Motor Group label to slip.
Honda’s trucks did the work for American Honda
American Honda, the Honda and Acura brands together, sold 119,952 vehicles, up 8.0%, and the Honda brand supplied all of the growth. Honda’s release calls it the best October in six years, powered by record sales of light trucks and hybrids. The CR-V added 3,119 sales and the Odyssey minivan 1,754, while Acura slipped as the RDX fell away.
Ford’s trucks grew, and the Escape took it back
Ford Motor sold 173,442 vehicles, 0.5% fewer than in October 2025. The F-Series rose 8.2% to 73,482, so the F-150 supplier issue raised in the September F-Series piece left October’s truck sales above last year’s. The Explorer added 6,221 on top.
The Escape erased all of it. Ford sold 150 of them, against 10,698 a year earlier, a loss fourteen times the Ford brand’s whole shortfall. Ford’s October release shows the line running dry: about 400 Escapes left in stock and no vehicles built at its Louisville Assembly Plant this year. The same release puts Ford’s hybrids down 21.0% and its electric vehicles down 71.2%, in a month when Honda reported record hybrid sales.
Through October, Ford Motor is 143,150 vehicles behind 2025, and the Escape, down 96,450, accounts for two-thirds of that. The F-Series, still 53,530 trucks short of last year’s pace, accounts for more than the rest.
What the eleven brands say about everyone else
Mazda’s 25.0% rise is the largest in the table, but it rests on a weak October 2025, and the month still sat below Mazda’s own average for the past year. Subaru’s gain came from the Forester, which added more than the brand did.
The eleven brands in the table sold 760,520 vehicles, up 6.3%. Cox estimates the whole market rose only 2.9%, with one more selling day than October 2025. The year tells the same story: the eleven are level with 2025 through October, while Cox puts the whole market about 1.5% down.
If those readings hold, the makers that report only by quarter, General Motors, Stellantis, Tesla, Nissan, the Volkswagen Group, BMW and Mercedes-Benz among them, grew more slowly as a group or fell, and their fourth-quarter releases in the first week of January settle which. The 2026 brand rankings add them when those quarters are in.
November’s monthly figures land on Tuesday, December 1. Cox calls October’s weakness “a bump in the road, not a shift in direction”; a second month near 15.5 million would make it a trend, and Kia’s run of records would face its first real test against a November 2025 of 72,002.
FAQ
Which brands set October sales records in 2026?
Kia, with 80,008, and Hyundai, with 73,452, each sold more vehicles in the US in October 2026 than in any earlier October.
Did Ford sales fall in October 2026?
Ford Motor sold 173,442, down 0.5%. The F-Series rose 8.2% to 73,482. The Escape fell to 150 from 10,698.
Why are GM, Stellantis and Tesla missing?
They report US sales by quarter, not by month, so October arrives inside their fourth-quarter releases in early January.
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