High gas prices have supercharged Hyundai’s hybrid and EV sales. Hybrid sales soared 90% in May, while EVs were up 10%. Overall sales climbed 3% as Korean brand moved 87,468 units. The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.29 and that’s up nearly $1.15 from a year ago. However, some states like California are paying over $6 per gallon. Given the sky-high prices, it’s no surprise that customers are embracing hybrids and even showing renewed interest in EVs. That’s certainly the case over at Hyundai, where hybrid sales soared 90% compared to last year. Sonata Hybrid sales were up 250%, while the Santa Fe (30%), Elantra (29%), and Tucson (10%) hybrids also experienced gains. More: Hyundai’s Best-Seller Gets Cheaper Hybrids And A New Blackout Model Electric vehicles also bounced back following the elimination of the federal tax credit last year. In fact, the Ioniq 5 celebrated its best May ever as sales jumped 28% to 5,002 units. The model is now up 16% year-to-date as customers have snapped up 18,395 electric hatchbacks. The Ioniq 9 is also doing okay as customers bought 1,145 last month. That’s not great, but it’s still a 279% increase from this time last year. Overall, Hyundai sales were up 3% to 87,468 units. This was largely due to the Tucson, which found 20,581 buyers in May. The crossover was followed by the affordable Elantra, which was up 7% to 16,819 units. The Palisade is also proving popular as consumers snapped up 13,089 of them. As for the losers, they’re not much of a surprise as Ioniq 6 sales fell 85% to 176 units. Of course, that’s hardly shocking as the company dropped the mainstream model and the high-performance N variant isn’t on sale in America yet. The Santa Cruz plunged 41%, while the Venue fell 27%. The latter feels like a relic from a bygone era, while the unibody truck is expected to be living on borrowed time. Hyundai May 2026 US Sales VehicleMay 26May 25% Chg26 YTD25 YTD% ChgElantra16,81915,741+7%64,66062,356+4%Ioniq 55,0023,898+28%18,39515,920+16%Ioniq 61761,197-85%1,2035,621-79%Ioniq 91,145302+279%4,001302+1225%Kona6,0367,779-22%30,13332,711-8%Palisade13,08911,207+17%52,11747,944+9%Santa Cruz1,7853,031-41%8,21412,173-33%Santa Fe11,22011,030+2%53,62154,848-2%Sonata8,4566,082+39%30,10827,891+8%Tucson20,58119,905+3%98,03196,932+1%Venue3,1594,349-27%12,53012,879-3% SWIPE
