- Compact utility vehicles make up 21 percent of new US car sales in 2025.
- Upper midsize utility vehicles and full-size pickups also hold strong shares.
- Leading sellers include the Honda CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Ford F-Series.
Americans are spoiled for choice when it comes to new cars. As of May 2025, a total of 411 individual models were available across 33 distinct vehicle segments. Still, despite all that variety, four main categories continue to dominate the market. Vehicles in these segments accounted for more than half of all new vehicle registrations during the first five months of the year.
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These segments, as defined by S&P Global Mobility, comprise compact utility vehicles, upper midsize utility vehicles, subcompact plus utility vehicles, and full-size half-ton pickup trucks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the compact utility segment that’s proving to be the strongest this year.
Compact Utility Vehicles Lead the Pack
Of all new retail registrations made from January-May, 21 percent were for compact utility vehicles. Leading the charge was the Honda CR-V with 175,246 vehicles sold, placing it ahead of the Toyota RAV4 with 161,411 sales, the Chevrolet Equinox with 107,192, and the Hyundai Tucson with 83,112 units finding new homes.
A total of 26 models in the US fall under this segment classification, and the top three of them (the CR-V, RAV4, and Equinox) account for 40 percent of total sales. Other popular models in this segment include the Subaru Forester, Kia Sportage, Nissan Rogue, Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, and Mazda CX-5.
Upper Midsize and Subcompact Plus Utilities
Then there’s the upper midsize utility segment. It accounted for 12.3 percent of total new car registrations through the first five months of the year. Leading the charge was the Jeep Grand Cherokee with 75,218 units sold, positioning it above the Ford Explorer (55,182), the Honda Pilot (54,489), and the Hyundai Santa Fe (47,935).
The third-most popular segment are sub-compact plus utility, reports S&P. They have accounted for 9.2 percent of all new car registrations. The segment currently consists of 16 models, including the Chevrolet Trax with sales of 73,784, the Subaru Crosstrek at 69,951, Honda HR-V at 64,039, Ford Bronco Sport with 46,312, and the Toyota Corolla Cross with 38,606 total sales through May.
Pickup Trucks Hold Their Ground
The full-size half-ton pickup truck segment also remains strong, although its market share has slipped slightly from 9 percent a decade ago to 8.2 percent this year. This segment consists of just six mainstream model lines.
Obviously, the Ford F-Series continues to lead the charge with 128,011 sales, ahead of the Chevrolet Silverado with 109,000, GMC Sierra with 73,149, Ram models with 67,594, the Toyota Tundra at 56,660, and the Nissan Titan with 1,502 units sold.
