Like most people on this forum, I'm very pleased with my Telluride purchase. However, I can't get on board with this thread. The numbers on the lot don't matter. The demand is so high for this type of vehicle and Kia has a hit with the Telluride, but they can't make enough. That doesn't mean they are killing it in sales. I see it as the exact opposite, they have a big problem, they hit a wall. That means that they are losing out on an opportunity because their supply can't meet the demand.
The number of cars manufactured and even the fewer number of cars delivered to dealers doesn't mean one is doing better than another. It just means you have buyers (demand) willing to put down a deposit and wait for months for the supply. As long as supply doesn't equal demand you will always see selling at or above MSRP and low inventory. You are just witnessing lost opportunity. I'm sure every Kia dealership (except the ones with the ridiculous markups) would rather have more Tellurides on the lot to make more on volume than margin. I'm sure it's not fun taking deposits for only a small segment of patient buyers that you can't cash in on until the vehicle arrives and the salesperson is just hoping the buyer doesn't bail. All the awards and accolades are all meant to help sales since the only true measure of comparison for sales is the number of cars sold. If you can't supply the demand, then you are meeting your quota but you aren't maximizing the sales potential. The dealer and Kia don't get credit until the sale is made and the owner takes delivery.
US Sales figures only (not counting other markets):
Automotive Sales Data and Statistics
carsalesbase.com
- Tellurides sold all of 2020 - 75,129
- Tellurides sold in February 2021 - 6,637
Automotive Sales Data and Statistics
carsalesbase.com
- Palisade sold in the US all of 2020 - 81,905
- Palisade sold in the US in Feb 2021 - 6,354
Nationwide that's 4% difference in February 2021. Maybe with better dealer allocation that 4% would be smaller if logistically they could predict regional demand better and move around inventory to have fewer on the lot. I'm sure the people in West Point are working really hard, but they are limited to the parts supply they have and their production numbers capped for the
Sorento and K5 product lines the factory also has to make. And now that Hyundai resolved the headrest issue and acknowledged transmission problems, people will forget about those details if they can sit in the car.
What those numbers compared to the inventory on the lot do tell me are that Kia is capped at that number because they are selling as quickly as they are getting made. By comparison, since Hyundai has a larger manufacturing pipeline and they have inventory on the lot today, the
Palisade sales could go higher. I wonder if the priority for Hyundai is to stock inventory in the lots that are just down the road from a Kia dealership lot that doesn't have Tellurides to sell to catch those buyers looking for a car now and not willing to wait.
Now look at one of the market leaders and think about it when you drive past a Toyota lot with dozens of Highlanders waiting for their buyers to hop in and drive away.
- Highlanders sold in the US all of 2020 - 212,276
- Highlanders sold in the US in Feb 2021 - 19,064
The Telluride is selling well, but it could be doing way better. The small number on lots means there is not enough supply to meet the market demand, not necessarily that one is selling better than another. Since Hyundai has a larger manufacturing capacity the
Palisade has a better chance at meeting demand over the Telluride if they want to catch the likes of: Highlander, Explorer, Grand Cherokee, Traverse, and Pilot. All of those vehicles have inventory on lots and are selling more per month than the Telluride. I'm not suggesting that those vehicles are better than the Telluride, but you can't sell what you don't have to sell (a deposit is just a promise of a future sale, not a sale). By comparison to Kia those models are killing it more in a very hot large mid-sized SUV market. It's probably why Jeep is adding a third row with the GC-L.
2020 US Midsize SUV Sales Figures
2021 US Midsize SUV Sales Figures
Kia has a couple more years to sell more Tellurides and build brand loyalty drawing people to the
Sorento, K5,
Stinger, Soul and other cars until everything with an internal combustion engine gets upended for EVs.
My take on the other vehicles discussed here:
- Highlander sales still very high
- MDX while bigger than previous years is not the same class as it is a tiny 3rd row, performance SUV, different buyer
- Pilot sales are good enough to hold out a little longer for EVs so why redesign now
- X5 like the MDX is a different class that might appeal to a GV80 shopper
- 2022 Pathfinder has a chance to steal some sales from the Telluride and Palisade, the specs are close since Nissan ditched the CVT transmission and it comes with a more impressive towing package rated for 6,000 lbs still on a unibody. If you don't mind the bloated exterior appearance, the interior and specs look actually pretty close to the Telluride.
