Back in 2024, Kia did something I didn’t think any manufacturer would do in America again: It said it would introduce a new hatchback to its lineup. Even crazier, the company actually did it, putting the K4 hatchback on sale in U.S. dealers last year. This is notable because, aside from a few notable examples from Honda and Toyota, American buyers and hatchbacks usually don’t mix.
The K4 hatch was primarily developed for markets in Europe, where the hatchback body style reigns supreme over sedans. But Kia has figured out a way to make it work Stateside, even if the vast majority of K4s sold here are still sedans. In a rare instance of hatchback or sedan, American buyers are no longer restricted to one or the other.
The secret to the K4 hatch’s existence in the U.S., according to Russell Wager, head of marketing for Kia in the Americas, is that the K4’s success and the sheer volume, both domestically and abroad, make the hatch viable for our market.
“So in Europe, hatchbacks are like 80% of the sales and sedans are 20%, and in the US is the opposite,” Wager told me at the New York Auto Show yesterday, speaking on the split between K4 body style sales. “So because there’s that much demand there to make it a product that we can take here, we can take a lower amount. Because globally, it still adds up to a bigger total amount.”
So basically, because the global volume is high enough overseas, Kia can justify spending the cash to homologate the hatch in America, even if sales aren’t as big here compared to the sedan. While the majority of people will opt for the sedan, there’s another sect of people who will buy the hatchback on top of that crowd. And that means more sales overall. If the hatch wasn’t such a huge hit in Europe, it might not have been worth it to go through the homologation process. But it is, and the U.S. is benefitting as a result.
While it might seem like a strange call either way, Kia definitely knows what it’s doing, at least going by its sales. The company’s American arm announced yesterday that it just achieved its best first-quarter sales in company history, selling over 200,000 cars in the first three months of 2026. And on the topic of sedans, another segment that the internet seems to think is going away, Kia is doing well.
Out of the 11 vehicles Kia sells, just two—the K4 and the K5—are sedans and hatchbacks. Yet those two models alone made up 27%—more than a quarter—of all of the company’s sales last quarter. Both the K4 and the K5 are up in sales versus the same period last quarter.
What About The Fun Stuff?
Of course, record sales don’t mean the company always judges things perfectly, especially when it comes to EVs. Kia originally planned to launch the EV4 sedan in the U.S. in late 2025, but tariffs, a disappearing federal tax credit, and flattening EV demand pushed it back indefinitely. The performance-oriented EV9 GT, the sportiest version of its three-row SUV, was also delayed from entering showrooms, with no concrete debut date. And the EV6 GT, one of the most fun EVs I’ve driven, was taken off the shelves last month.
I asked Wager about that car, and its lagging sales ultimately came down to the fact that the regular EV6 was quick enough for most people, and they didn’t need the extra power from the GT.
“We had [a GT trim] on the EV6, and it was a great car, and the people that bought it loved it, [but] there just wasn’t a lot of them,” he told me. “Because most [buyers] were like, ‘You know what? I don’t need 576 horsepower. I have instant torque on the non-GT version, I can spend a little less money, get a little extra range, I’m gonna go there,’ and they’re all happy with it. And the same thing from an EV9. The GT version, it just wasn’t going to be a whole lot of volume.”
These results haven’t stopped Kia from offering a GT version of the new EV3, the company’s new small electric crossover. Shown off at the New York Auto Show yesterday, it feels more like a 288-horsepower hot hatch than an SUV to us. There’s certainly potential here, but even Wager doesn’t exactly know how to approach it just yet.
“We’ll start here and see what the demand is. It’s an option,” Wager said to me regarding the EV3 GT’s launch. “I haven’t gotten to the point of how I’m going to talk about the GT. Today in the press conference, I used it to say, ‘Hey, look, we got a lineup, and if you go all the way up to the GT, it’s 288 horsepower. That’s pretty good. “It gives [the car] a little sportiness. As we get to the younger audience, maybe they’re a little bit more interested in a GT version.”
The electric hot hatch space is pretty much nonexistent in America right now, so I’m glad Kia is giving the EV3 GT a chance at life, even if it ends up being killed off a few years from now. Given how well the EV6 GT drives, I’m confident it’ll be a hoot. If anything, this means I can buy one off of Facebook Marketplace for cheap in a decade. So I have that to look forward to.
As for an actual hot hatch in the form of a legit K4 GT hatchback, I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I asked Wager about this, and he basically told me that the market was already covered with the lesser GT-Line model, which already comes with a turbocharged engine. That’s a shame, considering Matt didn’t really enjoy his time with that car when he reviewed it earlier this year, and knowing what Kia can do when it sets its mind to things. Oh well. Maybe one day.
Top graphic image: Kia; DepositPhotos.com
I think America and hatch backs mixed just fine until the automakers stopped making them.
Wasn’t too long ago that you could pick between hatches from Ford, Volvo, Kia, Mazda.
And yes, I realize that three of those were on the same platform but maybe different generations. 🙂
I’d love to see this as a PHEV or just a regular hybrid…
At this point anything different is good, unless its >$60k.
That’s a wagon.
There is a K4 wagon but it’s not this. This is nearly a foot shorter than the sedan and it’s all chopped off from behind the rear seat. A shared wagon is typically closer in length to the sedan.
I find it so interesting people see this hatchback and think it looks like a wagon. I don’t see it. It looks stubby with a very short rear overhang. That’s a hatchback. My definition of wagon usually is that it has to be very similar in length to its sedan counterpart with an equally long rear overhang. And look at that… the not-for-US K4 wagon fits this bill perfectly.
Exactly. I think they’re only using the “there’s a window behind the rear door” rule but the rear overhang is far too short.
The true rule should be:
This thing’s 10″ shorter than the sedan…the answer’s clear.
I’m using the “it looks like a 2nd generation Impreza not a 3rd generation Impreza” rule.
And the rear window isn’t really even over the cargo area. It’s roughly in line with the rear seatback, so it’s more part of the passenger area.
Good call!
WANT
Is this a hatchback?
I mean, I see lots of automobiles with four doors and a hatch in the back that opens up like that.
My mental image of a hatchback is something a little bit shorter with two doors, this looks more like a small station wagon and except that the hatch is closer to 45° than 90°
The Fiat 500 is obviously a hatchback, the Escalade isn’t a hatchback but has a hatch in the back. What’s the dividing line?
Is an XKE a hatchback? The Porsche 928 an its separated at birth AMC Pacer?
Anyway, at the supermarket even is loading groceries into the hatch except for the people putting them in the back seat of their pickup.
Is there a formal definition?
If we got the EV4 hatch, it would be first on my list to replace my Impreza hatch (notably absent from this article). As is, I’ll probably end up with an Uncharted and drop it a few inches once we get lowering springs for them.
Glad they’re still bringing the K4 over for people who still need a gasser though. Hatches rock!
The EV4 hatch profile resembles an Impreza in the hatch/wagon proportions.
Yep, that’s why I want one, plus I’m used to the E-GMP idiosyncrasies from my wife’s Ioniq 6.
The Uncharted is a bit differently proportioned, but at least it’s a liftback. Depending on your cargo, that can actually be better. We fit a ton of stuff in the back of my SIL’s 98 Firebird which really surprised me at the time.
Kia has actually offered the US a hatchback or liftback in this segment with every generation since the 2nd gen Sephia, with the exception of the previous gen Forte. For whatever reason we didn’t get that one even though Canada did. Maybe the styling didn’t test well in focus groups with US consumers.
I’m glad it’s coming, and I like the gold paint, though I don’t think I’ve seen a single one on the street yet, even here in car-crazy LA. I like the shape and color, but of course I don’t like the CVT in the regular models/the tiny high-stress turbo in the upper models. Mazda manages to keep selling 3s and CX-30s with regular automatics across the trim levels… I wish Kia would at least offer the K4 with a naturally aspirated engine/automatic transmisison combo for those buyers who’d like to try to keep the car for years. Also, I really don’t know how much it would actually cost Kia (or any other manufacturer) to offer a manual option too. I know it’s just a customer take rate of a percent or two, but surely they don’t have to pay to federally rehomoglate the car just because of a different transmission, right? Yes, I know there are parts/support costs for an optional transmission, but that goes for any option they decide to offer on any model. Even if a manual were only available as a special order, it being possible would engender goodwill towards a small but vocal set of potential fans.
OK, I’ll shut up now.
They just wanted something (more expensive) to offer the soul buyers. Truckers are going to be pissed when they realize the little hatchback wagon looking car is actually full of hamsters getting out in front of them and slowing down.
Perhaps if Kia had just made the lighting less ugly – stretched the rear side glass about 3 inches and called it a Wagon – then took some marketing pix w/ a pair of Labs in the back – it would sell more?
That’s just a Levorg?
With this kind of opening, I would be remiss if I passed up the chance to mention my wish for Subaru to bring over the Levorg. You have to admit that these opportunities are far and few in between.
When doesn’t one have an opportunity to ask Subaru to bring over the Levorg? LOL
I was so disappointed we had neither a Legacy wagon nor its Levorg replacement on offer when I was shopping in 2015. I’ve been pretty happy with my Impreza, but sometimes I do wish it was a proper wagon and not just a hatch. The Levorg is pretty much the same size as my 95 Outback as opposed to the land yacht that now bears the name.
I know it’s technically a hatchback, and GM calls the Trax an SUV, but there’s quite the similarity between them
https://naumanfarooq.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/img_7608.jpg
https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/24238_2026_Kia_K4_Hatchback-e1775159673399.jpg
they’re both yellow?
Our Trax, while the darker Blue Glow color, is very much wagon-like and has a rear hatch. It’s only three inches taller than our 2015 Cruze 2LT RS.
GM marketing can say what they want but legally the Trax is classified as a station wagon.
Is it just me or does this article not explain anything at all?
Well, yeah, but I could say that for an Audi S3 Sportback or a BMW 3-series wagon, or whatever. Yes, making the less popular variant available increases total sales. But it doesn’t really explain any secret sauce as to why Kia felt that was feasible in this case when it so often isn’t deemed to be the case.
I guess there’s a column in a spreadsheet somewhere called ‘global homologation costs’ which is divided by the number of cars sold.
They sell so many hatchbacks globally that adding the homologation costs for the US into that column doesn’t bring it over the threshold that makes Excel color the cell in red automatically, so it’s all good.
Yeah I’m sure it is some such calculation … I just somehow expected a little bit more inside baseball as to how Kia got that value to be green when most automakers in seemingly similar situations see red.
I think Kia is chasing volume, whereas a lot of other manufacturers are chasing margin. The difference in thinking there will allow you to exploit yawning chasms in the market which other companies have vacated.
I think Generic Name is right about them chasing volumes and I’d like to add that I think they might be thinking of it as a conquest attempt. With limited competition in that segment and a small, but pretty dedicated pool of buyers for hatches, they might be thinking that they can pull a few new customers to the brand that a sedan wouldn’t attract. I’m not so sure the styling is the way to go, but it isn’t bland and if that’s someone’s thing, then they’ll have to have it. Not many of those people, it seems, though, as I can’t recall seeing more than one on the roads.
Speaking of generic names, the letter/number model names on Kias don’t ring much of a bell with buyers. Names such as Sedona, Carnival, Sonata, Tacoma, Firebird, Mustang, and Wagoneer bring an image to mind. K4, K5, K6… there not much going on there.
Kia has been building these hatchbacks very slowly. There are four for sale right now in the greater Milwaukee area. Not sure why production is so slow. This one tempted me, until I found out it was vinyl seats only on every trim.
Vinyl seats do indeed suck in every application. “What if we made seats hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and sticky all the time!” Give mid-grade cloth everyday of the week.
100%. As someone who grew up in the malaise/vinyl era, I was in heaven in the 90s when basic cloth became standard. Leather’s nice when it’s good, but on most domestics, it isn’t and it wears terribly after a few years.
The trick is to get the vinyl in light colors, which unfortunately don’t seem too common these days. My Sportwagen has vinyl seats but they’re a light beige, infinitely better than the black vinyl seats I had in my last VW. I never want to own a car with a black interior again. Even once the AC was running cool I could just feel the heat radiating off all the surfaces, seats very much included.
I’m also a little anal about my car’s interior cleanliness and I love how easy vinyl is to keep clean. Doesn’t stain like fabric and, at least on my VW, harder to damage than real leather.
On the flip side, black fabric hides the stains and is breathable.
This is true, I’ve had black/dark grey cloth seats too. One thing I miss about cloth seats is how fast the seat heater warms them up.
Have the dealer throw in some Katzkins with heat and cool for 2k and live your life like a free man with control over his destiny. The right dealer might work that in for MSRP if they are going at a little bit of a discount.
Although, I don’t know that they will. I think these will sell very quickly, like all small Kia’s do. The Rio was very hard to find, and often gone in a day or two.
Are Europeans susceptible to social influences like Americans are? It seems like hatchbacks don’t sell because someone said they were cheap, minivans aren’t cool, wagons are what my parents drove, etc list goes on.
There is a small subset who don’t care about that obviously, the 20% predicted by Kia who would buy this over the sedan.
Cost of living is a big factor in Europe and the rest of the world plus the fact that a lot less people need cars to get around as public transport is so good people tend to choose far more pragmatic vehicles.
” It seems like hatchbacks don’t sell because someone said they were cheap, minivans aren’t cool, wagons are what my parents drove, etc list goes on.”
Well THIS American likes those things.
Wagons are due for a comeback. They’ve been uncool for 30 years because for 30 years boomers have been the only demographic that could afford (new) cars and wagons are what THEIR parents drove.
That era is coming to an end and it’s looking more and more likely that we’re about to be in an era of elevated gas prices for a full automotive model development cycle or two. Wagons fit the rugrats and have less frontal area. They will make gains.
The math in the title shot is a mix of middle school geometry/algebra, and high school calculus.
What do any of that have to do with Kia’s sale projection? Pretty sure marketing folks and bean counters don’t use much of that stuff.
Fun fact! Calculus frequently involves algebra!
Shit, maybe that’s what I getting wrong all those times.
Hmm, what other companies could/should apply this logic to their products? I still want a Corolla Hybrid wagon…
Yeah, we could have had the Focus for longer here in the states, given how well it sold in the UK for so many years.
We were supposed to have the Focus longer. When Ford retooled the Focus assembly plant to make the Ranger and Bronco they planned to import the 4th gen Focus from China. Then Trump put a 25% tariff on cars from China (up from 2.5%) and the Ford cancelled the model for the USA.
The Fusion’s similar hope-then-demise story made me particulary sad. If it has to be all crossovers all the time, the Evos isn’t the worst-looking one.
First it was supposed to go to a new plant in Mexico, Trump pressured Ford not to do that, that would’ve been for the whole MK IV Focus line, then they said okay we’ll just import the MK IV Focus Active lifted hatch instead from China and then the tariffs killed that.
The Corolla Hybrid wagon in the Japanese market is a great looking car… the most desirable Corolla IMO, not counting the GR model of course.
The Euro Corolla Touring Wagon is about 75mm longer in the wheelbase and has a bigger engine than the JDM. It would be great if Toyota added it to it’s range in the US and Australia (we can buy the smaller JDM Wagon on the secondhand import market here in Aus but rear legroom is same as the hatch)
I think the wagon looks better than the Corolla hatch… it just looks more grown-up. I love wagons (have one atm) and I don’t feel a burning desire to spend on a new car, but a real Corolla hybrid wagon would tempt the hell out of me as a ‘rest of my life’ daily driver.
Damn, I didn’t even know they made one! The hatch is a bit disappointingly small inside, but the wagon solves that. I had a sedan hybrid as a loaner and it was a perfectly fine vehicle that easily exceeded 50 mpg. A wagon version getting near 50 mpg on piss gas would be a great daily.
Yeah I like the hatchback, but a wagon would be much nicer.