2021 U.S. Automotive Sales by Brand – The Best-Selling Automotive Brands By Sales Volume
The best-selling auto brands in the United States in 2021 were Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet, Honda and Nissan. These five brands accounted for over half of all new car sales in the US in 2021. The overall US auto market in 2021 was rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was still down from pre-pandemic levels. Total new car sales in 2021 were 15.06 million units, up 11.5% from 2020 but down 7.5% from 2019.
Toyota is the world’s largest automaker and has been the best-selling brand in the US for several years. Toyota is known for its reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles, such as the Camry, Corolla, and RAV4. Ford is the second-largest automaker in the US and is known for its popular trucks and SUVs, such as the F-150, Escape, and Explorer. Ford is also investing heavily in electric vehicles, with the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning already on the market. Chevrolet is the third-largest automaker in the US and is known for its wide range of vehicles, from cars and SUVs to trucks and vans. Chevrolet’s best-selling vehicles include the Silverado, Equinox, and Camaro. Honda is a Japanese automaker that is known for its reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles. Honda’s best-selling vehicles in the US include the Civic, Accord, and CR-V. Nissan is a Japanese automaker that is known for its affordable and fuel-efficient vehicles. Nissan’s best-selling vehicles in the US include the Rogue, Altima, and Sentra.
2021 Best Selling Car Brands In the U.S
This data table looks at automotive brand volumes in the United States. We include the year to date sales numbers and compare with the same year to date numbers from last year. With both monthly and YTD sales numbers we have a growth rate column so you can better gauge an individual automotive brands sales success in the U.S market.
| Brand | Month | LY | Change | YTD | YTD Last Year | YTD Change | Month Share | YTD Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acura | 11,040 | 15,648 | -29.45 | 157,408 | 136,982 | 14.91 | 0.69 | 0.91 |
| Alfa Romeo | 1,352 | 2,349 | -42.44 | 18,252 | 18,585 | -1.79 | 0.08 | 0.11 |
| Audi | 11,060 | 24,102 | -54.11 | 194,842 | 186,625 | 4.40 | 0.69 | 1.13 |
| BMW | 31,011 | 38,074 | -18.55 | 336,694 | 280,297 | 20.12 | 1.93 | 1.95 |
| Buick | 12,219 | 17,037 | -28.28 | 182,380 | 162,749 | 12.06 | 0.76 | 1.06 |
| Cadillac | 7,460 | 16,544 | -54.91 | 117,994 | 129,495 | -8.88 | 0.46 | 0.68 |
| Chevrolet | 95,712 | 200,864 | -52.35 | 1,468,889 | 1,730,033 | -15.09 | 5.96 | 8.52 |
| Chrysler | 13,621 | 13,345 | 2.07 | 115,002 | 110,285 | 4.28 | 0.85 | 0.67 |
| Dodge | 13,455 | 24,281 | -44.59 | 215,726 | 267,326 | -19.30 | 0.84 | 1.25 |
| Fiat | 89 | 284 | -68.66 | 2,374 | 4,304 | -44.84 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Ford | 166,062 | 195,380 | -15.01 | 1,804,793 | 1,929,195 | -6.45 | 10.34 | 10.47 |
| Genesis | 4,999 | 3,110 | 60.74 | 49,630 | 16,384 | 202.92 | 0.31 | 0.29 |
| GMC | 33,639 | 62,493 | -46.17 | 500,700 | 515,313 | -2.84 | 2.09 | 2.90 |
| Honda | 94,028 | 120,819 | -22.17 | 1,308,476 | 1,199,805 | 9.06 | 5.85 | 7.59 |
| Hyundai | 51,340 | 66,278 | -22.54 | 726,715 | 619,925 | 17.23 | 3.20 | 4.22 |
| Infiniti | 3,650 | 7,897 | -53.78 | 58,555 | 79,503 | -26.35 | 0.23 | 0.34 |
| Jaguar | 1,699 | 2,121 | -19.90 | 17,149 | 21,786 | -21.28 | 0.11 | 0.10 |
| Jeep | 58,015 | 82,397 | -29.59 | 768,713 | 795,306 | -3.34 | 3.61 | 4.46 |
| Kia | 43,001 | 66,954 | -35.78 | 677,494 | 599,195 | 13.07 | 2.68 | 3.93 |
| Land Rover | 10,867 | 10,680 | 1.75 | 89,778 | 80,033 | 12.18 | 0.68 | 0.52 |
| Lexus | 24,043 | 38,223 | -37.10 | 326,928 | 275,042 | 18.86 | 1.50 | 1.90 |
| Lincoln | 6,195 | 12,571 | -50.72 | 87,929 | 105,405 | -16.58 | 0.39 | 0.51 |
| Mazda | 19,422 | 31,308 | -37.96 | 328,237 | 279,076 | 17.62 | 1.21 | 1.90 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 25,632 | 36,746 | -30.25 | 329,665 | 324,708 | 1.53 | 1.60 | 1.91 |
| Mini | 2,620 | 3,296 | -20.51 | 35,168 | 28,047 | 25.39 | 0.16 | 0.20 |
| Mitsubishi | 8,286 | 5,694 | 45.52 | 102,035 | 87,386 | 16.76 | 0.52 | 0.59 |
| Nissan | 61,345 | 85,841 | -28.54 | 919,090 | 837,762 | 9.71 | 3.82 | 5.33 |
| Porsche | 5,854 | 6,771 | -13.54 | 69,175 | 57,286 | 20.75 | 0.36 | 0.40 |
| Ram | 50,639 | 69,897 | -27.55 | 647,329 | 624,637 | 3.63 | 3.15 | 3.75 |
| Subaru | 51,146 | 63,558 | -19.53 | 598,480 | 611,938 | -2.20 | 3.18 | 3.47 |
| Tesla | 26,232 | 24,675 | 6.31 | 301,998 | 292,902 | 3.11 | 1.63 | 1.75 |
| Toyota | 141,990 | 211,378 | -32.83 | 1,933,099 | 1,837,898 | 5.18 | 8.84 | 11.21 |
| Volkswagen | 28,446 | 36,289 | -21.61 | 366,462 | 355,684 | 3.03 | 1.77 | 2.13 |
| Volvo | 11,681 | 14,244 | -17.99 | 123,424 | 110,130 | 12.07 | 0.73 | 0.72 |
| ∑ = 1,127,850 | ∑ = 1,611,148 | ∑ = 14,980,583 | ∑ = 14,711,027 |
2021 Auto Brand Market Share Dynamics
This chart gives you a view of the year to date automotive sales volumes by brand and how they make up the U.S automotive market in terms of market share. You can see in this handy chart that the big brands continue to make up a disproportionate amount of the market for new car sales.
2021 vs 2020 Brand Sales
This chart simply takes each brand and compares their year to date sales with the year to date sales for the same time last year. Brands where the dark green bar is lower than the light green have seen declines in sales year on year whereas brands with a higher dark green bar and lower light green bar are seeing growth in volumes year on year.
2021 Automotive Brand Sales Analysis
This chart might seem a little complicated at first but once you understand it is very helpful. First, the size of the area for each brand refers to their market share (i.e size). The bigger the circle the larger the brand in terms of sales volumes (YTD). The position of the circle in the chart along the left axis looks at the year to date growth of that brand. The higher the brand is on the chart, the more year to date growth it is seeing in sales volumes. Along the bottom axis you can see the total volumes shipped by that brand year to date.
Automotive Data Disclosures
Important note: Both Ford, GM, and FCA have switched to quarterly reporting, making it more difficult to accurately gauge sales. We won’t have results to report for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Lincoln, Jeep, Chrysler, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Dodge, and Ram until the end of each quarter.
