Toyota led the US car market in October, with Kia and Mazda setting monthly records and Ford slipping — as the market rose about 4% to roughly 1.3 million vehicles. Toyota Motor Corporation sold 221,507 vehicles in October, up 6.5% year on year, according to GoodCarBadCar and Best Selling Cars Blog, with the Toyota brand at 188,392, up 5.7%, and Lexus up 12%. The group’s year-to-date total is 2,098,119, up 1.2%. The whole US market sold about 1.3 million light vehicles, up 4% year on year, according to a GlobalData preliminary estimate — although on a selling-day-adjusted basis, with one extra selling day in October 2026, the rise was only 0.3%, and GlobalData has cut its full-year forecast to 16.1 million from 16.2 million. Kia sold 80,008 vehicles, up 16.0% — an October record, and its sixth straight monthly record — while Hyundai sold 73,452, up 4.8%, also an October record. Together, Hyundai-Kia sold 160,083, up 9.5%. Kia has now outsold Hyundai for the third month in 2026. American Honda sold 119,952, up 8.0%, and Mazda sold 31,446, up 25.0% — the fastest riser of the month, and its second-best October ever.
Ford slips — and the totals disagree
Ford is the exception. Ford’s own official sales release puts the group at 174,123 vehicles, down 0.8% year on year, with the Ford brand at 165,474, down 0.4%. The aggregators GoodCarBadCar and Best Selling Cars Blog put the group lower, at 173,442, down 0.5% — a gap of 681 units, with the Ford brand figure agreeing in both sets, so the difference is in Lincoln and other counting. This post uses Ford’s official figure and notes the discrepancy, and the two totals should not be mixed in one post. No October figures exist for General Motors, Stellantis or Tesla — they report quarterly only, and their October sales will only appear inside fourth-quarter releases in early January 2027. Any post claiming an October GM, Stellantis or Tesla US total is invented.
The best sellers
The Ford F-Series was the best-selling vehicle line, with 73,482 sold in October, up 8.2% — its best October since 2019 — and 634,990 year to date, still America’s best-selling vehicle line. The Toyota RAV4 sold 39,888, up 0.6% — its first year-on-year gain in 12 months — while the Honda CR-V sold 34,815, up 9.8%, and leads year to date with 371,659 against the RAV4’s 293,552 in its changeover year. The Ford Explorer sold 23,885, up 35.2%, and Ford’s large SUVs had their best results since 2002. Hybrids were 18.6% of the US market in October, against 14.6% a year ago, according to GlobalData — with Hyundai hybrids up 20% and Kia hybrids up 114%. The Toyota Camry, at 287,442 year to date, is the best-selling car in America. For buyers, the message is that hybrids are now nearly a fifth of the market, and the brands winning in October are the ones with the strongest hybrid line-ups.
