HYUNDAI/KIA: Hyundai, Kia and Genesis all drop

Hyundai Motor America's U.S. sales were down 11 percent from the year-earlier period to 56,063 units.

Car sales sputtered for Hyundai, although it saw momentum build with crossovers such as the compact Tucson and the new Kona subcompact. Kona sales were up 40 percent compared with March 2018.

Kia saw encouraging results from the Rio and Sportage, but most nameplates declined. Genesis was also down as its retail strategy continues to take shape.

Brands: Hyundai down 11%; Genesis down 26%; Kia down 5.2%

Notable nameplates: Tucson up 30%; Niro down 20%; Rio up 34%; Sportage up 35%; Sorento down 4.3%;

Incentives: $3,894 per unit for Kia, up 20%. Down 5.5% for Hyundai to $2,961.

Average transaction price: $22,931 for Kia, up 1%. Down 0.5% for Hyundai at $22,442.

Quote: "In addition to best-ever April sales for Sportage and big gains for Rio and Sportage, Stinger reached an important milestone by surpassing the 5,000 units sold mark," said Bill Peffer, vice president, sales operations, Kia Motors America, in a statement. "We continue to emphasize retail sales over fleet and with our 'America's Best Value' summer sales event rolling out, the refreshed 2019 Sorento now in showrooms, and the all-new Forte model on the horizon, we will continue to generate momentum throughout the summer sales period."

Did you know? Hyundai set an all-time record in monthly crossover sales for the second consecutive month with 25,618 units sold.