Kelley Blue Book's later third-quarter file puts Rivian at 19,239 U.S. EV sales, second to Tesla, in a market of 262,649

Rivian was the second-largest electric-vehicle brand in the United States in the third quarter of 2026, behind Tesla, in the Kelley Blue Book estimates Cox Automotive published. The file headed estimates as of 13 October 2026 puts Rivian at 19,239 sales, up 45.7 percent from 13,201 a year earlier, and Tesla at 144,094, down 19.7 percent from 179,525. The same file's battery-electric total is 262,649, down 39.5 percent from 434,279. A separate line that adds fuel-cell vehicles is 262,732, also down 39.5 percent from 434,392. Those are estimates. They are not a government registration report.

An earlier file, headed estimates as of 12 October, printed a different market total and the same Rivian count. Its battery-electric total was 266,630, down 38.6 percent from the same 434,279. Its fuel-cell-inclusive total was 266,713, also down 38.6 percent. Rivian was 19,239 in that file too, with the same 45.7 percent increase, the same year-to-date 41,009, and the same 26.8 percent year-to-date gain. The brand row that changed is Lexus. The 12 October file lists Lexus at 8,464 in the quarter, up 442.2 percent from 1,561. The 13 October file lists Lexus at 4,483, up 187.2 percent. The gap in the Lexus row is 3,981. The gap in the battery-electric total is also 3,981, and the year-to-date battery-electric total moves from 729,869 to 725,888, the same gap. That comparison is this desk's reading of the two files. Cox does not, in either file, spell out which figure it corrected.

Cox's commentary, dated 12 October 2026, carries an editor's note that the article was updated to correct a figure in the third-quarter report. The corrected text uses 262,649, the later file's total, up 6.1 percent from the second quarter and the highest quarterly total since the third quarter of 2025. It ties the 39.5 percent year-on-year drop to that 2025 quarter, which it calls the strongest on record, as buyers rushed to use expiring federal incentives. It says electric vehicles were about 6.4 percent of new-vehicle sales, up from 5.8 percent in the second quarter, and that with conventional hybrids and plug-in models included, nearly 25 percent of third-quarter sales were electrified. Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive, is quoted calling the quarter "a market finding its footing again."

On the later brand table, the names behind Tesla and Rivian are Toyota at 12,904, up 328.0 percent from 3,015; Cadillac at 12,358, down 32.8 percent; Hyundai at 12,185, down 57.7 percent; and Chevrolet at 10,031, down 74.6 percent. Kia is next at 9,575, down 35.3 percent. The commentary says Toyota and Lexus EV sales rose nearly fivefold and that Rivian rose 46 percent, while Subaru rose 31 percent. The later table's Toyota increase is 328 percent, which is more than fourfold and short of fivefold on that row alone. Lexus is a separate row, up 187.2 percent. Subaru is 4,566, up 31.5 percent. Rivian's printed change is 45.7 percent. The commentary's round numbers are close to the table. They are not the table.

The later model table splits Rivian's 19,239 into four lines that add back to that total: the EDV 500/700 delivery vans at 8,469, up 220.9 percent from 2,639; the R1S at 5,582, down 31.8 percent from 8,184; the R2 at 3,456, with no 2025 figure in the quarter column; and the R1T at 1,732, down 27.2 percent from 2,378. The R2 year-to-date line is also 3,456, so this file does not assign R2 sales to the first or second quarter. The van line is the largest. The four lines are this desk's check against the brand total Cox printed.

Tesla's model rows in the same file are the Model Y at 99,037, the Model 3 at 40,346, the Cybertruck at 4,323, the Model S at 215, and the Model X at 173. Those five lines add to 144,094. The commentary says the Model Y was 69 percent of Tesla's quarter and the Model 3 was 28 percent. Dividing 99,037 and 40,346 by 144,094 gives about 68.7 percent and 28.0 percent. The later file prints Tesla's segment share as 54.0 percent and Rivian's as 7.2 percent.

Analysis

The counts to use from the later file are 19,239 for Rivian and 262,649 for the battery-electric market. The 266,713 figure is real, and it is the 12 October file's fuel-cell-inclusive total, not the later battery-electric total. The 38.6 percent decline belongs to that earlier file. The later file's decline is 39.5 percent. Rivian's 19,239 did not move between the files. Second place behind Tesla holds on both brand tables, because even the higher Lexus count of 8,464 sat below Rivian.

The later file still prints a 7.2 percent third-quarter share for Rivian and 54.0 percent for Tesla. Dividing the later counts by the later total gives about 7.3 percent and about 54.9 percent. Dividing them by the earlier total of 266,630 gives about 7.2 percent and about 54.0 percent, which matches the shares as printed. Cox does not say whether the share column was recalculated when Lexus and the total changed. This desk is not calling that a finding of fault. It is an arithmetic gap between two columns in the later file. The commentary's "more than half" for Tesla is true on either total.

These tables are Kelley Blue Book estimates, not a Rivian delivery release. Year-ago rates sit on a quarter Cox describes as a rush before federal incentives expired.

More from the Industry/Business desk: Tesla's third quarter, electric truck sales, and Volvo Cars' third quarter.