Most Popular Vehicles in the U.S. by Region and Generation
Henry Hoenig
· 2 min read
Jerry
looked at ownership data on more than 1 million vehicles across the U.S. to see who is driving what, breaking the results down by region, gender and generation. Here's what we found. Chevrolet and Ford Are Top Brands Nationwide
Nationwide, Chevrolet and Ford top the list of most popular brands but six of the top 10 brands are foreign, led by Japanese automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda.
Looking at brands by region, the Midwest clearly favors American — it's the only region where the top three brands are all American. The West and Northeast prefer foreign brands. The Northeast is the only region where foreign (Japanese) brands make up the top three. In every region except the Midwest, foreign brands make up a majority of the top 10.
Ranking | U.S. | Northeast | South | Midwest | West |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Chevrolet | Honda | Chevrolet | Chevrolet | Toyota |
2. | Ford | Nissan | Ford | Ford | Ford |
3. | Toyota | Toyota | Toyota | Dodge | Chevrolet |
4. | Nissan | Ford | Nissan | Toyota | Honda |
5. | Honda | Chevrolet | Honda | Honda | Nissan |
6. | Dodge | Hyundai | Dodge | Nissan | Dodge |
7. | Hyundai | Jeep | Hyundai | Jeep | Hyundai |
8. | Kia | Kia | Kia | Kia | Kia |
9. | Jeep | Dodge | Jeep | Hyundai | Jeep |
10. | Volkswagen | BMW | GMC | Chrysler | BMW |
In the Midwest, home of the Big Three automakers, the top six models are all American, led by the Jeep Grand Cherokee. In the West and South, as with the U.S. as a whole, the top five models are all Japanese.
Ranking | U.S. | Northeast | South | Midwest | West |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Honda Accord | Honda Accord | Honda Accord | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Honda Civic |
2. | Toyota Camry | Honda Civic | Nissan Altima | Chevrolet Malibu | Honda Accord |
3. | Honda Civic | Nissan Altima | Toyota Camry | Ford Fusion | Toyota Camry |
4. | Nissan Altima | Toyota Camry | Honda Civic | Chevrolet Silverado | Toyota Corolla |
5. | Toyota Corolla | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Toyota Corolla | Chevrolet Equinox | Nissan Altima |
6. | Chevrolet Silverado | Toyota Corolla | Ford F-150 | Ford F-150 | Chevrolet Silverado |
7. | Ford F-150 | Hyundai Elantra | Chevrolet Silverado | Honda Civic | Hyundai Elantra |
8. | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Nissan Rogue | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Toyota Camry | Jeep Grand Cherokee |
9. | Hyundai Elantra | Hyundai Sonata | Hyundai Elantra | Ford Escape | Ford F-150 |
10. | Chevrolet Malibu | Honda CR-V | Chevrolet Malibu | Honda Accord | Nissan Sentra |
When it comes to gender, two pickup trucks rank among the top five for men but don't make the rankings at all for women or drivers with no gender listed. No SUVs rank among the top five for any group.
Ranking | Men (brands) | Women (brands) | No gender listed (brands) | Men (models) | Women (models) | No gender listed (models) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Ford | Chevrolet | Chevrolet | Honda Accord | Nissan Altima | Honda Accord |
2. | Chevrolet | Ford | Nissan | Toyota Camry | Honda Accord | Nissan Altima |
3. | Toyota | Nissan | Ford | Honda Civic | Toyota Camry | Toyota Camry |
4. | Honda | Toyota | Honda | Chevrolet Silverado | Honda Civic | Chevrolet Malibu |
5. | Nissan | Honda | Toyota | Ford F-150 | Toyota Corolla | Hyundai Sonata |
6. | Dodge | Hyundai | Hyundai | Nissan Altima | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Honda Civic |
7. | Hyundai | Kia | Kia | Toyota Corolla | Hyundai Elantra | Hyundai Elantra |
8. | Kia | Dodge | Dodge | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Chevrolet Malibu | Ford Fusion |
9. | Jeep | Jeep | Jeep | Ford Fusion | Ford Fusion | Toyota Corolla |
10. | BMW | GMC | Chrysler | Hyundai Elantra | Nissan Sentra | Nissan Sentra |
Ford and Chevrolet rank as the top two brands for all generations, and Toyota ranks third for each. Baby Boomers and Generation X are the only two generations for which American brands make up at least half of the top 10. The Silent Generation is the only one for which Mercedes-Benz ranks among the top 10.
Ranking | Silent | Boomers | Gen X | Millennials | Gen Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Ford | Ford | Chevrolet | Chevrolet | Ford |
2. | Chevrolet | Chevrolet | Ford | Ford | Chevrolet |
3. | Toyota | Toyota | Toyota | Toyota | Toyota |
4. | Nissan | Nissan | Nissan | Honda | Honda |
5. | Honda | Honda | Honda | Nissan | Nissan |
6. | Hyundai | Dodge | Dodge | Dodge | Hyundai |
7. | Dodge | Hyundai | Hyundai | Hyundai | Dodge |
8. | Kia | Kia | Kia | Kia | Kia |
9. | Jeep | Jeep | Jeep | Jeep | Jeep |
10. | Mercedes-Benz | GMC | GMC | Volkswagen | Volkswagen |
Trucks and SUVs are more common among older generations, with the F-150 ranking as the top model choice for Boomers, and two pickups ranking among the top five models for Gen X. No trucks or SUVs rank among the top models for Generation Z, although Jeep does rank as the No. 9 brand.
Ranking | Silent | Boomers | Gen X | Millennials | Gen Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Toyota Camry | Ford F-150 | Honda Accord | Honda Accord | Honda Civic |
2. | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Toyota Camry | Ford F-150 | Toyota Camry | Honda Accord |
3. | Honda Accord | Honda Accord | Nissan Altima | Nissan Altima | Toyota Camry |
4. | Toyota Corolla | Chevrolet Silverado | Toyota Camry | Honda Civic | Nissan Altima |
5. | Ford F-150 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Chevrolet Silverado | Toyota Corolla | Toyota Corolla |
6. | Chevrolet Silverado | Nissan Altima | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Jeep Grand Cherokee | Hyundai Elantra |
7. | Hyundai Sonata | Toyota Corolla | Honda Civic | Chevrolet Silverado | Ford Fusion |
8. | Nissan Altima | Nissan Rogue | Toyota Corolla | Ford F-150 | Chevrolet Malibu |
9. | Nissan Rogue | Honda Civic | Chevrolet Malibu | Chevrolet Malibu | Hyundai Sonata |
10. | Chevrolet Equinox | Ford Escape | Nissan Rogue | Hyundai Elantra | Nissan Sentra |
