2020 in hindsight: Light-vehicle sales recap

At first, 2020 looked as if it would bring a slight decline in U.S. auto sales. Then when the pandemic hit, it felt like the bottom had fallen out. But sales rebounded quickly, and retail demand turned out to be relatively healthy in the summer and fall.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers behind a chaotic year for the industry, not to mention the rest of the world.

Change in the top 10
Hyundai jumped ahead of Subaru and nearly topped Ram, but that was the only movement among the 10 largest brands, all of which posted declines.
  2020 sales % change
Ford 1,929,298 –16%
Toyota 1,837,900 –12%
Chevrolet 1,727,736 –11%
Honda 1,209,805 –17%
Nissan 819,715 –33%
Jeep 795,313 –14%
Ram 624,642 –11%
Hyundai 622,269 –9.7%
Subaru 611,942 –13%
Kia 586,105 –4.8%
Taco time
Toyota sold more Tacoma pickups than Corolla compact cars for the 1st time.
  2020 sales % change
Tacoma 238,806 –4%
Corolla 237,178 –22%
Ranger rising
The Tacoma outsold each of its competitors in the midsize-pickup segment by more than double, but the Ford Ranger, in its 2nd year back on the market, moved up to 2nd place.
  2020 sales % change
Ford Ranger 101,486 13%
Chevrolet Colorado 96,238 –21%
Jeep Gladiator 77,542 94%

Chevrolet Camaro

Camaro fading
The Ford Mustang continued to lead the pony-car segment, more than doubling sales of the Chevrolet Camaro that was No. 1 from 2010 through 2014.
    2020 sales % change
Ford Mustang 61,090 –16%
Dodge Challenger 52,955 –13%
Chevrolet Camaro 29,775 –38%
Silver for Silverado
After falling behind Ram in 2019, the Chevrolet Silverado leaped back into 2nd place.
  2020 sales % change
Ford F-Series 787,422 –12%
Chevrolet Silverado 586,675 2.80%
Ram 563,676 –11%
Big-pickup battle
The F-Series remained the nation’s top-selling vehicle line for a 44th consecutive year. But including the GMC Sierra, General Motors sold more full-size pickups than Ford for the 1st time since 2015.
  2020 sales % change
Ford full-size pickups 787,422 –12%
GM full-size pickups 839,691 4.60%

Kia Seltos

New on the scene
Kia had 2 of the 5 top-selling newcomers last year.
  2020 sales
Kia Seltos 46,280
Buick Encore GX 44,841
Chevrolet Trailblazer 34,292
Kia K5 31,656
Mercedes-Benz GLB 23,183

BMW X7

BMW repeats
BMW won the U.S. luxury crown for a 2nd consecutive year, as Mercedes-Benz fell to 3rd.
  2020 sales % change
BMW 278,732 –18%
Lexus 275,041 –7.7%
Mercedes-Benz 274,916 –13%

Ford Explorer

Going exploring
The Ford Explorer became 1 of the 5 top-selling utility vehicles again.
  2020 sales % change
Toyota RAV4 430,387 –3.9%
Honda CR-V 333,502 –13%
Chevrolet Equinox 270,994 –22%
Nissan Rogue 227,935 –35%
Ford Explorer 226,217 21%
Staying positive
5 segments managed an increase, including 2 categories of electric vehicles.
  2020 sales % change
Battery-electric crossovers 77,259 148%
Large premium crossovers 129,519 7.8%
Subcompact crossovers 892,358 4.8%
Large premium sporty cars 47,967 4.5%
Battery-electric cars 226,433 1.9%
Segment shifts
The 2 largest segments accounted for almost 1/3 of the vehicles sold last year, and compact-car sales fell below 1 million.
  2020 sales % change
Compact crossovers 2,362,424 –16%
Full-size pickups 2,326,431 –6.1%
Midsize cars 1,076,111 –22%
Large crossovers 1,020,317 –0.6%
Compact cars 980,152 –32%

Note: These figures do not include Tesla, which does not report U.S.-only sales results.

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