There are no surprises.
Toyota sold more cars than General Motors in 2021, for the first time ever in American history. The Japanese company was the volume leader in Japan, with 2,332,262 vehicles being delivered to customers. This left GM in second place for the first 90 years. However, the situation was very different in the second-hand marketplace, where Toyota only had two models among the top 10 most-sold nameplates.
According to data analyzed iSeeCars, the Ford F-150 is the country’s most-sold model on the used car marketplace. The Blue Oval’s truck commanded a 3.6 percent share of the used car market. It was followed by the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (2.6% share) and the Ram 1500 (2.4% share). Side note: The Ram surpassed the Silverado to take second place in new car sales.
The Top 10 list included four compact SUVs: the Nissan Rogue and Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, and Ford Escape. The Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord round out the top ten, ranked fourth, sixth and tenth, respectively.
The most popular vehicles in the United States (2021). |
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Rank |
Vehicle |
Share of used cars sales |
| 1 | Ford F-150 | 3.6% |
| 2 | Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | 2.6% |
| 3 | Ram 1500 | 2.4% |
| 4 | Honda Civic | 2.0% |
| 5 | Nissan Rogue | 1.9% |
| 6 | Toyota Camry | 1.9% |
| 7 | Chevrolet Equinox | 1.9% |
| 8 | Ford Escape | 1.7% |
| 9 | Toyota RAV4 | 1.7% |
| 10 | Honda Accord | 1.6% |
Karl Brauer, an iSeeCars executive analyst, explains that while inventory shortages caused a decrease in sales volume for popular vehicles compared with previous years, the most coveted vehicles remained constant when compared to 2020. This is because automakers were able prioritize production of the most profitable vehicles over slower sellers.
We expect the used car market will continue to grow despite disruptions in supply chains and high demand for new cars. According to industry experts, second-hand trucks and cars will continue to be expensive for six to nine more months.