The idea that Americans have a new love affair with electric vehicles (EVs) is inaccurate. Except for Tesla, U.S. car companies struggle to sell their latest EV models. The Ford F-series has been the best-selling vehicle in America for 42 years. Last year, Ford sold approximately 750,789 F-series units. Sales of the electric F-150 Lighting were only 24,165. Drivers do not want the Lightning. Used car purchase trends show that gasoline-powered vehicles are still in favor, especially pickup trucks. (These cars have the best retention value.)
For years, the U.S. vehicles that have been the best sellers behind the F-150 have been the Chevy Silverado and the Ram, which are also low-gas mileage, full-sized pickup trucks. Buyers of these vehicles sold new have ignored gas prices, which topped $4 two years ago. For whatever reason, gas prices have not been a barrier to the huge demand for these vehicles. A standard gas tank size of one of these can take over $50 to fill.
The Most Popular Used Cars
iSeeCars published its top-selling used car list. It looked at vehicles sold in 2023 that were one to five years old (2018 to 2022). The data was based on sales information from 9.2 million transactions. Big pickups, led by the F-150, took three of the top four spots based on the percentage of all used vehicles sold last year.
The F-150 was 3.3% of all used cars sold in 2023 based on the iSeeCars metrics. Silverado sales were 2.6% of the total. Ram’s were 2.1%. People simply stayed with national buying patterns and saved money buying older versions of their favorites.
The news is not good for companies that want to transition to EVs. Ford is the best case in point. Ford had high hopes for its multibillion investment in an EV future. Sales faltered. Management blamed low demand. Ford pushed a $12 billion investment in EVs to future years. And, if demand does not pick up, Ford may never spend all that money.
Two things have helped the pickup market. One is that the cost of an average gallon of gasoline has dropped below $3 in most states, according to GasBuddy. The fuel price tracker expects these low prices to hold through 2024.
Additionally, new EV sales have staggered. Much of the trouble is that the number of public charging stations is low compared to gas stations, and charging an EV takes much longer than filling a car with gas.
These are the 10 top-selling used cars in America:
- Ford F-150 (3.3%)
- Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (2.6%)
- Chevrolet Equinox (2.1%)
- Ram 1500 (2.1%)
- Toyota Camry (1.8%)
- Honda Civic (1.7%)
- Toyota RAV4 (1.7%)
- Toyota Corolla (1.5%)
- Ford Explorer (1.5%)
- Nissan Rogue (1.5%)
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