Hyundai has been steadily breaking into the American auto market by making great cars, such as the Palisade. This has allowed Hyundai to continue selling many cars recently. Here’s a look at how Hyundai broke sales records in July and how Hyundai’s SUVs are performing surprisingly. 

Hyundai has been doing very well in 2021

Sales in 2021 have been pretty remarkable despite chip shortages. Many automakers bounced back from their pandemic lows, but many still haven’t. Meanwhile, Hyundai saw a 56% increase in sales in the first few months of 2021 compared to the same time period in 2020. Not only that, but Hyundai has actually managed to break a few of its sales records in 2021.

According to Hyundai, July 2021 was the fifth month in a row where Hyundai saw a double-digit increase in sales compared to last year. Compared to July 2020, Hyundai sold about 19% more cars in July 2021. In hard numbers, Hyundai said that it sold 68,500 units in July. It also set a July retail sales record, making over 61,000 retail sales in July.  

In terms of Hyundai’s year-to-date sales, Hyundai’s sold over 475,000 cars so far in 2021. This represents a 44% increase from the same time period in 2020. Hyundai said it broke sales records for the Venue and the Kona. While these were record-breaking results for Hyundai, they were also surprising.

What’s so surprising about these sales numbers

SUVs are a trendy segment right now, so it’s not surprising that Hyundai’s SUV segment is doing well. While Hyundai’s SUV sales are still very healthy, surprisingly, they didn’t change much from 2020. Hyundai said that, in July 2021, SUV sales grew by 4%. In comparison, Hyundai’s cars saw a 36% growth in sales.

More surprisingly, was Hyundai’s eco-friendly vehicle segment. That’s because Hyundai said that it saw a 399% increase in sales of eco-friendly cars. That’s obviously a much bigger increase in sales compared to SUVs. This shows that Hyundai’s eco-friendly cars have seen a big growth in sales, but they are still a minority. 

Indeed, Hyundai said that its eco-friendly options accounted for about 12% of its retail sales. That is still a pretty big chunk of Hyundai’s sales, and, likely, those sales will only grow from here.

Hyundai’s July sales by the numbers

In terms of Hyundai’s best-selling cars of July, first place went to the Elantra. According to Hyundai, it sold about 13,103 units this July and represented a 41% increase from last July. In terms of year-to-date sales, Elantra sold 87,160 units so far in 2021, which is a 51% increase from before.

Santa Fe was in second place. But according to Hyundai, it was close. The company sold 12,766 units of the Santa Fe in July. A 37% increase from last July. Year-to-date, Hyundai’s sold 75,876 units of the Santa Fe, which is a 44% increase from last year. 

Tucson was in third place, selling 11,483 units in July. This was a mere 5% increase from last July, but Tucson is actually the best-selling car for Hyundai so far in 2021. Hyundai’s sold 95,000 units of the Tucson so far this year, and that’s a 38% increase from last year.