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Top-20 selling vehicles in the U.S. through October 2003
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mAdD INDIAN
Diamond Member
No need to swear at others (especially those younger to you). You posted eariler how young kids were swearing too much and now you go and do that to other younger people just cause they don't agree with your views?
You should set a good example.
JulesMaximus
No Lifer
Hmm, I don't see a single vehicle on there that I would plunk down any cash for. Guess I'm not part of the majority.
Come to America sometime and visit rural areas. A good percentage of our population lives in rural communities. You don't drive an econobox up a dirt road on the side of a mountain. The largest sellers are pickups because of fleet vehicles, vehicles often used in construction.
Ornery, we both know consumers switched for foreign made cars not because of size but because of the construction quality. In the 80's detroit was building sh!tty quality cars. Japan built stuff that lasted a long time it was just small. People wanted quality over size, this the big mistake detroit made. Consumer opinion on vehicles has never made a major shift, the manufactures are just finally coming around to understand that.
Nope. Disagree. There was a MAJOR shift in the early '70s to econoboxes. Japan and Germany were already building those, so they got the initial sales shifted from large American cruisers. Detroit's foray into the econobox niche brought us the Vega and Pinto.
It's no wonder Japan snatched that market from under us. They had a head start! By the time Detroit started offering halfway decent econoboxes, like Chryslers K-cars and minivans, we were playing catch up. The lack of buyers for large cruisers was gone, so one by one, they were abandoned. By the time people woke up to the fact that gas mileage wasn't all that, there were no more V8, RWD, body on frame cruisers to be had! All that was left were minivans, SUVs and full size trucks. The numbers speak for themselves.
"The largest sellers are pickups because of fleet vehicles, vehicles often used in construction."
The sale of light trucks has gone from 16 percent of all new vehicles in 1971 to nearly 50 percent in 1997. Are you saying commercial vehicle sales accounts for all that?
Like what others have said, what you drive depends on several conditions (geography, what you do with your vehicle, etc.) I've been just recently to the New England area (Virginia), and I would say maybe out of every 90 cars I saw, I would see ONE truck. Trucks just aren't meant for cramped areas like that (ever try to parallel park a F350 Dually Extended cab downtown?...doesn't work out too well). Where I live (Texas) though, Trucks and SUVs are abundant. Our streets and parking areas are MADE for them so it's not a pain in the ass to drive a huge SUV around where I live.
Whether you're driving a huge truck or SUV, or an econobox, each car serves a purpose and the driver makes a purchased based on his/her needs. Some people want to conserve gas while others need a vehicle to carry large amounts of stuff/people around while others want comfortability. It depends on what you want. I've got a friend that spends roughly $240-$260 every month (he's driving an old Suburban) but he's thinking about getting a Cavalier to save on gas. I drive a truck so I can haul bricks, sheetrock, wood, etc. around. I wouldn't bash econoboxes though...they serve a purpose for those financially strapped.
Whether you're driving a huge truck or SUV, or an econobox, each car serves a purpose and the driver makes a purchased based on his/her needs. Some people want to conserve gas while others need a vehicle to carry large amounts of stuff/people around while others want comfortability. It depends on what you want. I've got a friend that spends roughly $240-$260 every month (he's driving an old Suburban) but he's thinking about getting a Cavalier to save on gas. I drive a truck so I can haul bricks, sheetrock, wood, etc. around. I wouldn't bash econoboxes though...they serve a purpose for those financially strapped.
OmarGustav
Banned
This is rediculous!
BenSkywalker
Diamond Member
If you were actually in New England, you would have seen a lot more trucks then that 😉
In New England, multi foot snowstorms are common in the winter months(not too common thankfully) and particularly in North country you have an awful lot of unpaved roads not to mention the White Mountain area(may not be that high in elevation, but constant winds in excess of 50MPH isn't uncommon and in some areas the snow piles up higher then the tops of the trees, 30'+ on Mt Washington as an example). Trucks and SUVs around here are regularly bought because of the wonderful winter climate. Actually, up here(NH one of the six New England states- MA, CT, RI, VT and ME are the other states although RI and CT are actually quite a bit more mild) Subarus sell about as well as Hondas or Toyotas(AWD take a bow). Growing up I had two types of friends in terms of automobiles(some of them in the middle owning both), big trucks(4" suspension, 4" body 40" super swampers full size 4WD domestic all of them) and muscle cars(Cuda, pre 70 Camaros, 442, GTOs, Mustangs). None of them were any good in the snow(swampers and snow/ice don't mix) so most of them also had either small 4WD pickups or they would buy one the wind up cars as a winter beater and junk it in the spring.
The sale of light trucks has gone from 16 percent of all new vehicles in 1971 to nearly 50 percent in 1997... I believe it's gone up since '97. You were saying?
Ornery...
I think part of the thing to consider here too is how trucks have evolved in the last 30 years.
In 1970, did you have trucks with power windows, locks, 12 way power adjusted seats with heated leather upholstry? How about quad cab with leather uholstry and seating for 4 grown adults with DVD entertainment systems with LCD screens built into the front seatbacks?
The truck market has evolved quite a bit and is a vehicle of utility. You can haul a family of 4 through the week with it, and turn around on the weekends and make a run to home depot for plywood or mulch or haul a couch with it. Most buyers in this category could give a flying fart about it being body on frame. They just want the utility and creature comforts. It's not about legroom. It's about a vehicle doing everything you want it to do.
I think part of the thing to consider here too is how trucks have evolved in the last 30 years.
In 1970, did you have trucks with power windows, locks, 12 way power adjusted seats with heated leather upholstry? How about quad cab with leather uholstry and seating for 4 grown adults with DVD entertainment systems with LCD screens built into the front seatbacks?
The truck market has evolved quite a bit and is a vehicle of utility. You can haul a family of 4 through the week with it, and turn around on the weekends and make a run to home depot for plywood or mulch or haul a couch with it. Most buyers in this category could give a flying fart about it being body on frame. They just want the utility and creature comforts. It's not about legroom. It's about a vehicle doing everything you want it to do.
"You can haul a family of 4 through the week with it, and turn around on the weekends and make a run to home depot for plywood or mulch or haul a couch with it. Most buyers in this category could give a flying fart about it being body on frame. They just want the utility and creature comforts. It's not about legroom. It's about a vehicle doing everything you want it to do."
You're still not accounting for the fact that, in 1971 (and decades before), most people got along just fine with full size cars. Now, all of a sudden, they need trucks to pick up plywood or mulch or haul a couch? 😕
Fact is, if you're not happy with a small car, which can incidently haul five belted people (squished like sardines), you have NO CHOICE but a truck of some kind. Full size cars are nearly extinct, unless you want to pay a king's ransom for top of the line vehicles from elite manufacturers. So stupid! That same configuration used to be cheap and plentiful!
You're still not accounting for the fact that, in 1971 (and decades before), most people got along just fine with full size cars. Now, all of a sudden, they need trucks to pick up plywood or mulch or haul a couch? 😕
Fact is, if you're not happy with a small car, which can incidently haul five belted people (squished like sardines), you have NO CHOICE but a truck of some kind. Full size cars are nearly extinct, unless you want to pay a king's ransom for top of the line vehicles from elite manufacturers. So stupid! That same configuration used to be cheap and plentiful!
NFS4
No Lifer
Ornery, why are you being so Ornery??
Different people have different needs. That has been the main point that people have been trying to get through your thick skull. All you can point out is "back in the 70's...bla bla bla." I don't give a crap about the 70's. I wasn't even born until Reagan slithered his way into the White House.
What we're talking about is the here and now. People who buy pickups don't necessarily buy them b/c they're roomier than cars. They buy them b/c they're popular and they can be used as SUBSTITUTES for cars these days (if they don't mind the mileage trade off). You can get trucks with GPS, leather, power everything, 6-disc in-dash CD changers, front/side/head curtain airbags, ABS, traction control, electronic stability control, electronic brake distribution, DVD entertainment systems, electronic climate control, sunroofs, keyless, heated seats, etc. Just about anything you want in a car, you can get in a truck these days. Some people prefer trucks, some people prefer cars. Given the feature content of vehicles these days, it's a tossup.
When my dad bought a '94 Ford Explorer, he didn't buy it b/c it was a big vehicle with a lot of mass or passenger space, he bought it b/c it sat up high, had lots of cargo room and had 4x4. In fact, it actually had LESS passenger room in it than his '90 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue (k-Car)...especially when it came to rear legroom. You could spread out in the back of the Fifth Avenue. Same goes for the '97 Explorer that he purchased a few years later. In fact, it had about the same usable rear legroom as my Camry IIRC.
Ornery, people buy vehicles for different reasons. The reason why cars like the Accord, Camry, Civic and Corolla are so popular is readily apparent. They're great vehicles with rock solid reliability, great efficiency and rock solid resale value. They get the job done and they do it well. If people were so afraid of being in smaller vehicles, Toyota wouldn't be selling 400,000+ Camrys a year or 250,000+ Corollas a year. Not everyone needs a big, lumbering vehicle. I know I don't.
Go to just about any college campus around here in NC. You ain't gonna see any big ass cars around there. All you see are compact/midsize cars and compact SUVs (CRV, RAV4, etc). That's all that people of this age need. They don't need big ass pickups or land yachts.
You drive through my neighborhood in Raleigh, and all you see are Camrys, Accords, 3-Series/A4's, Explorers/Trailblazers and TONS of minivans (lots of new parents in the neighborhood...must have been b/c of the ice storm last year😉).
Now, if you go to a different part of the state (up in boone, NC, just about every other car is a Subaru) or country you're going to find different results of course.
But the bottom line is, different people have different needs. For you to crap on smaller cars b/c they don't fit your "ideal model" is downright ridiculous.
And I can't believe this thread has gone on this long over this. It's friggin' common sense.
Different people have different needs. That has been the main point that people have been trying to get through your thick skull. All you can point out is "back in the 70's...bla bla bla." I don't give a crap about the 70's. I wasn't even born until Reagan slithered his way into the White House.
What we're talking about is the here and now. People who buy pickups don't necessarily buy them b/c they're roomier than cars. They buy them b/c they're popular and they can be used as SUBSTITUTES for cars these days (if they don't mind the mileage trade off). You can get trucks with GPS, leather, power everything, 6-disc in-dash CD changers, front/side/head curtain airbags, ABS, traction control, electronic stability control, electronic brake distribution, DVD entertainment systems, electronic climate control, sunroofs, keyless, heated seats, etc. Just about anything you want in a car, you can get in a truck these days. Some people prefer trucks, some people prefer cars. Given the feature content of vehicles these days, it's a tossup.
When my dad bought a '94 Ford Explorer, he didn't buy it b/c it was a big vehicle with a lot of mass or passenger space, he bought it b/c it sat up high, had lots of cargo room and had 4x4. In fact, it actually had LESS passenger room in it than his '90 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue (k-Car)...especially when it came to rear legroom. You could spread out in the back of the Fifth Avenue. Same goes for the '97 Explorer that he purchased a few years later. In fact, it had about the same usable rear legroom as my Camry IIRC.
Ornery, people buy vehicles for different reasons. The reason why cars like the Accord, Camry, Civic and Corolla are so popular is readily apparent. They're great vehicles with rock solid reliability, great efficiency and rock solid resale value. They get the job done and they do it well. If people were so afraid of being in smaller vehicles, Toyota wouldn't be selling 400,000+ Camrys a year or 250,000+ Corollas a year. Not everyone needs a big, lumbering vehicle. I know I don't.
Go to just about any college campus around here in NC. You ain't gonna see any big ass cars around there. All you see are compact/midsize cars and compact SUVs (CRV, RAV4, etc). That's all that people of this age need. They don't need big ass pickups or land yachts.
You drive through my neighborhood in Raleigh, and all you see are Camrys, Accords, 3-Series/A4's, Explorers/Trailblazers and TONS of minivans (lots of new parents in the neighborhood...must have been b/c of the ice storm last year😉).
Now, if you go to a different part of the state (up in boone, NC, just about every other car is a Subaru) or country you're going to find different results of course.
But the bottom line is, different people have different needs. For you to crap on smaller cars b/c they don't fit your "ideal model" is downright ridiculous.
And I can't believe this thread has gone on this long over this. It's friggin' common sense.
Common sense tells me there's some reason why the top three selling vehicles are full size trucks. There's some reason why 50% of all vehicles sold are light trucks. My theory is that it's the only alternative left to today's small cars, which are erroneously called mid size.
Some have speculated that it's because of commercial sales. Some have said people haul more today. You think it's because they're more 'car like'. IMO, that's the result of people wanting trucks, not the other way around. That's how you woo customers from other manufacturers. At any rate, almost nobody here wants to admit that trucks have become popular to such a degree, which is huge and getting bigger. Nobody wants to admit that the cars are getting bigger, as well as there engines. Facts point to consumers wanting bigger vehicles with more power. They're buying trucks instead of cars and they're looking for ever larger vehicles, even in the 'mid-size' market. Pure facts!
Maybe 50% of new vehicle buyers don't HATE econoboxes like I do, but they sure as hell ain't buying them like they used to. Before that market took off, after the oil embargo, you rarely saw anybody driving such a car. Make what you want of that fact as well. We're slowly heading back in that direction, whether you like it, or are willing to admit it, or not.
As far as kid's preferences, why do they go gah-gah over any V8, RWDs coming out of Japan or elsewhere? What happened to the fascination with high tech screamers? With any luck, that will go away too...
Some have speculated that it's because of commercial sales. Some have said people haul more today. You think it's because they're more 'car like'. IMO, that's the result of people wanting trucks, not the other way around. That's how you woo customers from other manufacturers. At any rate, almost nobody here wants to admit that trucks have become popular to such a degree, which is huge and getting bigger. Nobody wants to admit that the cars are getting bigger, as well as there engines. Facts point to consumers wanting bigger vehicles with more power. They're buying trucks instead of cars and they're looking for ever larger vehicles, even in the 'mid-size' market. Pure facts!
Maybe 50% of new vehicle buyers don't HATE econoboxes like I do, but they sure as hell ain't buying them like they used to. Before that market took off, after the oil embargo, you rarely saw anybody driving such a car. Make what you want of that fact as well. We're slowly heading back in that direction, whether you like it, or are willing to admit it, or not.
As far as kid's preferences, why do they go gah-gah over any V8, RWDs coming out of Japan or elsewhere? What happened to the fascination with high tech screamers? With any luck, that will go away too...
NFS4
No Lifer
People are buying more Corollas, Camrys, Accords and Civics than they ever have before.
The auto market is expanding. People are buying more and more of EVERYTHING these days. Pickup sales are up, car sales are up, SUV sales are up. EVERYTHING is up. Hell, even the sport coupe market is hot right now. And the $30,000 - $40,000 sports/luxury sedan market is always hot.
You make it sound like pickup sales are going up while midsize/compact sales are going down. They all have been rising.
So I still fail to see your point other than to try to cause friction. You still seem to think that people want trucks simply b/c they're larger than cars...WRONG! If pickup trucks had the same features that they did just 15 years ago, HELL NO!!! Why have Explorer sales plunged 14% this year? B/C more and more CAR-BASED SUVs [which generally share the same wheelbase with their car counterpart] are flooding the market (Murano, Highlander, Pilot, Endeauver, SRX, FX35/45, etc). Those vehicles hardly offer any more passenger room than the (Altima, Camry, Accord, Galant, CTS, G35), but they do offer more cargo capacity, AWD and generally more luxurious features at the expense of fuel economy.
The only reason why pickups are becoming more and more commonplace in todays society with regular Joe Consumer is b/c of:
(1) Relatively low gas prices
(2) More car like features
(3) More and more safety features
Ford isn't touting more interior space with their new F-150. They are touting its performance, its safety features, its relatively luxurious new interior, its carlike ride and the fact that it's the most quiet/squeak free truck on the planet.
That being said, the majority of truck sales are still going out to fleets/commercial venues and IIRC, the majority of F-Series trucks sold are of the 250/350 variety and not of the 150 series. I could be wrong, but it's hard to come by number for the three seperately.
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