Telluride deliveries reached 110,038 through September, which puts Kia’s three-row SUV 1,527 units ahead of the Toyota Grand Highlander at 108,511 and 17,071 ahead of the Honda Pilot at 92,967. On a nine-month basis, the answer to whether the Telluride is now outselling both of its closest rivals is yes, though the lead over Toyota is small enough to flip in a single strong month.
A year earlier the order was different. Through September 2025 the Grand Highlander had sold 99,833 and the Pilot 94,607, both ahead of the Telluride at 92,498.
Nine-month totals: Telluride 110,038
Autoblog’s comparison of U.S. sales through September shows the Telluride up 19 percent, the Grand Highlander up 8.7 percent and the Pilot down 1.7 percent. Only the Pilot declined in the nine-month comparison, and the article notes it is the oldest of the three in model-year terms despite a recent facelift. The Telluride’s own figures check out against Kia’s release: 110,038 this year against 92,498 in the first nine months of 2025, from the company’s Oct. 1, 2025 sales report.
The Grand Highlander and Pilot numbers come from Autoblog’s tally; Toyota’s and Honda’s September releases published total company results but not nine-month unit counts for these two models in the pages available. The gap between first and second place, 1,527, is about 1.4 percent of the Telluride’s total, which is why the comparison holds only on the nine-month view and says little about any single month.
Kia’s September run: 11,927 Tellurides
The lead was built late in the period. Kia America’s release for September shows the Telluride at 11,927 units for the month, up 42 percent from 8,408 in September 2025. Kia as a whole sold 77,009 vehicles in September, up 18 percent from 65,507, and 236,659 in the third quarter, up 8 percent. Year-to-date sales were 667,386 against 636,148. Eric Watson, Kia America’s vice president of sales operations, said the “record-breaking September and best-ever quarterly sales” show the strength of the brand.
The monthly surge shows up in the nine-month sum. The Telluride added 17,540 sales over its 2025 pace, the Grand Highlander added 8,678, and the Pilot lost 1,640. That divergence turned a Toyota lead of roughly 7,300 units at the same point in 2025 into a Kia lead of 1,527 this year, a swing of about 8,900 units in twelve months. The Telluride is also a large piece of Kia’s business: 110,038 of the brand’s 667,386 sales through September, or roughly one in six.
The margin is thin enough that the fourth quarter could change the answer: Toyota would need to outsell Kia’s SUV by about 509 units a month over October, November and December to draw level for the year.
Toyota and Honda on the other side
Toyota’s own numbers show a company growing without needing the Grand Highlander to outpace Kia. Toyota Motor North America reported 633,223 vehicles in the third quarter, up 0.6 percent, in a release dated Oct. 1, with Andrew Gilleland, senior vice president of its automotive operations group, saying the company is “well-positioned to finish the year strong.” The release links to a model-by-model sales PDF, but that file returned an access error when requested for this report, so the Grand Highlander’s nine-month total could not be checked against Toyota’s own table. Autoblog’s count has the Highlander at 42,950 for the same period, meaning Toyota’s two three-row crossovers together sold 151,461 units, well above the Telluride alone.
Honda’s September result gives the Pilot a better month than its year, with company-wide year-to-date sales of 1,149,261, up 4.7 percent: American Honda reported 9,481 Pilots in September, up 8.8 percent. Total Honda sales for the third quarter were 392,341 (up 9.3 percent) and Lance Woelfer, vice president of auto sales, said Honda and Acura were “able to buck industry trends and increase both sales and market share.” The Pilot’s nine-month total is still 1.7 percent below last year.
Context from Autoblog keeps the ranking in proportion. The Ford Explorer, at 189,210 units through September, is well ahead of all three, and Kia’s own Sorento sold 77,205. Toyota’s older Highlander added 42,950. Autoblog also notes that the Telluride is the only one of the three starting below $40,000, that the 2027 Telluride’s hybrid option is rated at up to 35 mpg combined, and that Honda does not sell a hybrid Pilot or any other three-row crossover. The three-row field is crowded, and the Telluride’s win is a win among these three, not over the segment.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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