For many years, we’ve all heard the identical story — Individuals love their large autos.
For greater than a decade, the three best-selling fashions in the US have been persistently the full-size vehicles constructed by the Detroit Three automakers. The Ford F-Collection has been America’s best-selling car for practically 5 many years. The Chevrolet Silverado has persistently held second place for greater than a decade, often adopted by the Ram 1500.
The midsize SUV overtook the midsize automotive as America’s household automotive of selection, and people have been rising. Even the compact SUVs of immediately would have certified as midsize when George W. Bush was president.
However, starting final 12 months, a brand new pattern has emerged.
Individuals are beginning to decide on smaller autos once more.
Information from Kelley Blue E-book mother or father firm present that, since 2019, Individuals have begun selecting smaller autos.
The Rise of the Compact SUV
Compact SUVs took over as America’s best-selling kind of car in 2020. Since then, the variety of compact SUVs offered has grown whereas midsize SUV gross sales have retreated. Three compact SUVs overtook the Ram truck in gross sales in 2025. The Toyota RAV4, Tesla Mannequin Y, and Honda CR-V all outsold Ram’s full-size truck.
Extremely, the identical is now true for vehicles. Full-size vehicles nonetheless outsell midsize vehicles, however full-size truck gross sales have been shrinking since 2020. Midsize truck gross sales now present constant progress.
This might increase alarm bells in Detroit, the place automakers have centered their efforts on full-size fashions. Ram doesn’t at the moment construct a midsize truck for the U.S. market, although rumors persist that the Dakota identify may come again on a smaller truck quickly. Within the meantime, its sibling model, Jeep, does supply the Gladiator midsize pickup.
Chevrolet’s Colorado and Ford’s Ranger, in the meantime, now come solely in a 4-door (crew cab), short-bed configuration. Toyota dominates gross sales within the rising midsize truck class and builds its Tacoma in mixtures of prolonged and crew cabs with brief and lengthy beds. Nissan is one other producer that makes its midsize truck, the Frontier, in a number of configurations. Nissan additionally discontinued its Titan full-size pickup, after the 2024 mannequin 12 months, which struggled to achieve traction out there.
In 2022, the Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz compact vehicles debuted to robust gross sales, rising from their respective shared platforms with the Ford Escape and Hyundai Tucson compact SUVs.
Even amongst vehicles, small is making a comeback. Each compact and subcompact automotive gross sales have been rising since 2022. Automakers have practically deserted the subcompact automotive class. Solely Nissan builds one in 2025, its Versa sedan. Mitsubishi sellers nonetheless have some 2024 Mirage hatchbacks and Mirage G4 sedans on heaps, however there is no such thing as a 2025 Mirage.
Different rivals have left the ultra-small market fully. The Chevy Spark, America’s least-expensive new automotive for a number of years, left the market in 2022. So did the Hyundai Accent. Then, the Kia Rio.
A Pricing Downside
The rise of smaller autos could also be a consequence of larger costs.
When the COVID-19 pandemic modified America’s buying habits, automakers understood that solely wealthier, better-credit customers may simply automotive store. They tailor-made their lineups to draw them, canceling cheap fashions and including extra alternate options at luxurious automotive costs.
That has helped to bifurcate the automotive market. Final month, the common new automotive offered for $48,039. However that common was deceptive. Consumers clustered at two ends of the dimensions.
On the low finish, compact SUVs outsold all different autos, with a median sale worth of $36,198. On the different finish, Individuals purchased a document variety of vehicles priced above $100,000.
That’s an issue for sellers, who more and more discover themselves with few cheap fashions to supply.
