American’s love affair with the truck continues as sport utility vehicles, aka SUVs, and crossovers, CUVs, have supplanted sedans as the most popular body styles in the US. The claim, part of a long-running trend, comes from an analysis of registration data for the first five months of 2014.
New retail sales registration data through May indicate that SUVs and CUVs now account for 36.5% of the new vehicle market – more than any other body style – compared to 35.4% for sedans. Five years ago, sedans were one spot with 36.3%, while SUV/CUVs accounted for 31.4%. Together, SUV/CUV market share has increased 2.6 percentage points in the past year, while sedan share has retreated more than one percentage point.
“These vehicles offer the combination of appealing features associated with both cars and light trucks, including a higher seating position, higher ground clearance, softer ride, more interior space, optional four-wheel or all-wheel drive, and towing capacity, among others,” said Tom Libby of IHS Automotive, the source of the data.
See the segment shift during the past five years below:
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
