The Kia Carnival is available with reclining lounge seats in the back.
Kia Motors America
Designers in California came up with the look of the Kia Carnival.
Wes Allison/Honda Motor Company
The Honda Odyssey is lauded by critics for its relatively good driving dynamics.
Chrysler
The 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Limited S boasts a new, sportier look with black wheels and trim pieces on the body.
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If you want proof that the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t affect everyone equally, look no further than car-buying trends. While overall car sales in 2020 were down 14.6% year-over-year, dealer profits ballooned by 48%, according to 2020 survey results from the National Automobile Dealers Association. Tighter inventories, reduced workforces, and less—if any—need for dealer incentives all contributed to the spike in dealer profits.
Profits were also aided by the kinds of cars being sold off the lot. Sales of vehicles priced between $80,000 and $90,000 in 2020 grew 91% year-over-year, according to data from J.D. Power, while sales of vehicles priced below $20,000 dropped 30% year-over-year. This is largely because wealthier Americans, whose jobs were more likely to weather the economic storm, didn’t see income levels drop, while poorer Americans, whose service industry jobs were cut early on, lost some or all of their wages.
An increase in luxury car sales isn’t the only car-buying trend we’ve seen spring up over the last year. CoPilot analyzed its data of more than 30 million car sales via the car-buying app between January and December 2020 to highlight 10 key car-buying trends during COVID-19. The analysis looks at different car makes, models, production years, months of purchase, fuel types, and car body types to determine which cars people were most interested in over the past year. Datapoints in the forthcoming list show trends drawn from CoPilot data but do not cover all national vehicle sales.
Keep reading to explore highlights of our findings, from the state with the most vehicle sales to which motor vehicle company sold the most cars in 2020.
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- Cars bought in 2020: 2,937,889 (10.1% of the state's population)
- Population of Texas in 2020: 29,145,505
The pandemic caused thousands of Americans to relocate, fleeing overcrowded cities where community spread was more prevalent or capitalizing on new job flexibility and moving to areas with easier access to nature and lower costs of living. Texas was among the states with the highest number of transplants, welcoming thousands of folks from as far away as California and New York. With no public transport system to speak of, these new residents—many of whom came from public transit hubs like San Francisco—needed to buy cars, which likely contributed to the Lone Star State leading in auto sales last year.
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- 1989 cars bought in Chicago: 277
- 1999 cars bought in Chicago: 3,918
- 2009 cars bought in Chicago: 46,055
The jump in used car sales in 2020 correlated to commuters growing leery of using buses, trains, and ride-hailing services during the pandemic. Chicago, home to the second-largest public transportation system in the country behind New York City, saw the biggest jump in used car sales for model years 1989 to 2000. Why used over new? For some, swapping out a metro card for a vehicle represented the second or third family car; others sought to save some cash during a tumultuous economic year with significant job insecurity. In July 2020, the average value of a used car spiked by more than 16%, according to data from Edmunds.
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- 2017 cars sold: 64,187,574
- 2020 cars sold: 173,916,451
- 2021 cars sold: 81,473,898
Stay-at-home orders forced many automakers to shut their doors temporarily, bringing production to a halt while driving up prices. The supply shortage and outsized price hikes drove demand for used cars, which are generally more affordable and abundant, resulting in older models being among the top-sellers of 2020.
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- Ford: 3,859,157 cars sold
- Chevrolet: 3,636,660 cars sold
- Toyota: 3,250,499 cars sold
- Honda: 2,280,636 cars sold
- Nissan: 1,878,230 cars sold
- Jeep: 1,663,198 cars sold
- Hyundai: 1,237,576 cars sold
- GMC: 1,139,611 cars sold
- Kia: 1,068,344 cars sold
- Subaru: 1,059,733 cars sold
- Ram: 1,015,563 cars sold
Overall car sales were down for much of 2020 compared with previous years. However, as economies and cities began re-opening in the latter part of the year, many people elected to buy cars and travel that way instead of using public transport or commercial planes and trains. This trend contributed to the sale of more than 1 million cars from each of these brands.
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- Ford cars sold: 3,859,157
- Bestselling months for Ford: December (444,696 cars sold), June (342,603 cars sold)
- #2 bestselling car make: Chevrolet (3,636,660 cars sold)
- #3 bestselling car make: Toyota (3,250,499 cars sold)
Despite Ford's U.S. auto sales slipping 15.6% in 2020 compared to 2019 amid the pandemic, the auto giant managed to come out on top in terms of vehicle sales last year. Ford has transitioned away from passenger cars in the last several years, focusing instead on the production of its increasingly popular SUVs and bestselling trucks that offer higher profit margins for the company.
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- Ford F-150 cars sold in 2020: 1,007,664
- Bestselling months for F-150: December (102,788 cars sold), May (96,430 cars sold)
- #2 bestselling car model: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (841,331 cars sold)
- #3 bestselling car model: Toyota RAV4 (617,065 cars sold)
The Ford F-Series in 2020, which includes the F-150, enjoyed its 39th year in a row as the bestselling vehicle in the U.S. The series held onto its title despite tighter inventories and a new redesign that incorporated lighter aluminum in production. The F-Series is lauded for its towing strength, engine power, gas mileage, and luxury design.
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- #1 car type sold in 2020: SUVs (13,757,221)
- #2 car type sold in 2020: four-door cars (8,199,331)
- #3 car type sold in 2020: crew cab pickup - short bed (2,846,424)
SUVs outsold sedans nearly 2-to-1 in 2019, a trend that continued throughout 2020 and into 2021. Of the 20 bestselling vehicles in 2020, 11 were crossovers or SUVs. The growing popularity of SUVs underscores the demand for comfort, passenger space, and safety features.
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- Gasoline cars sold in 2020: 25,632,625
- Hybrid cars sold in 2020: 1,293,767
Gas-powered cars still reign supreme even as more climate-friendly options become available. But consumer interest in EVs and hybrids has grown as fuel costs rise, production costs of electric vehicles (EVs) drop, and people can travel further on a charge. Many popular hybrid models, from Teslas to Toyota Priuses, enjoyed rising popularity in 2020. That's expected to continue: Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts EVs may be cheaper than gas-powered vehicles as soon as 2025.
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- Cars sold in December 2020: 3,424,804 (only month over 3 million cars)
Year after year, December has proven to be the best month to buy a car. The month marks both the end of the quarter and year, meaning salesmen and automakers are especially motivated to make sales. As a result, buyers can often negotiate great deals, something that didn’t change even in the midst of a global pandemic.
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- Cars sold in April 2020: 1,402,300 (only month under 2 million cars)
As mandatory stay-at-home orders began in the U.S. in late March 2020, a general sense of uncertainty took hold. Business closures sent unemployment rates skyrocketing and many Americans grew wary of making significant purchases. April 2020 auto sales were roughly half that of the same month in 2019 for automakers Toyota and Honda.
This story was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Maybe you don’t think minivans are cool. It wouldn’t be all that surprising. They have been seen as so uncool in the past that they nearly became extinct. But now, minivans are making a comeback — and they are actually becoming quite popular.
In fact, there’s been so much demand that minivans sold for, on average, 8% above sticker price last month, according to a recent Cox Automotive report. Meanwhile, cars, trucks and SUVs sold for sticker price, which is surprising enough in its own right. Car shoppers can usually negotiate significant discounts on most vehicles but, with production of new cars hampered by computer chip shortages, that’s not the case now — especially with minivans.
People seem to be finally catching on to the minivan’s essential practicality. Minivans provide even more of the useful capabilities of SUVs — cargo and passenger space — without the off-road capabilities that go largely unused. (Toyota and Chrysler minivans are available with all-wheel-drive but they aren’t really intended for driving off-road.)
“For families, there are still few better vehicle choices than a minivan,” said Matt Degen, a senior editor at Kelley Blue Book. “They’re just easier.”
Big sliding doors and high seats make it simple to attach baby seats. Big cargo compartments have plenty of space to hold strollers, playpens or sports gear without having to figure how to fit it all in.
There are only four car companies currently offering minivans in America. Three of them — Toyota, Chrysler and Kia — have recently redesigned their vans to be nicer and better looking than ever before.
Chrysler recently updated its van, the Pacifica, giving it a new front face and a nicer interior. Chrysler also introduced a less expensive minivan, the Voyager, to appeal to business customers and those who just want a basic van without luxury pretensions. Toyota introduced a completely redesigned Sienna last year with styling inspired by the Toyota Supra sports car. (Yes, really. The Supra.) Then Kia introduced the Carnival, a new name on a completely redesigned SUV-shaped minivan, to replace the Sedona. The Honda Odyssey also got some technology and design updates for the 2021 model year.
Chrysler is the U.S. market leader in minivans and, as a company, invented the modern minivan back in the 1980s. Someone at Chrysler — now part of Stellantis — had the idea for a small, front-wheel-drive van that could fit inside a suburban garage, according to the book “Mopar Minivans” by David Zatz.
When they came out in 1984 the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager were instant hits. The swankier Chrysler Town & Country came later. Other automakers tried to compete, initially with family-friendlier versions of rear-wheel-drive work vans then, later, with their own front-wheel-drive minivans.
That was before the SUV craze, though. Once SUVs began taking over the American auto market, most car companies dropped their minivans.
But this wholesale exit from a “dying” minivan market segment helps explain why the ones that remained are so good, said Ezra Dyer, an editor with Car and Driver and a minivan owner.
“It’s the same thing with sedans where crossover SUVs have consumed the world,” he sad “So what’s left in those segments, be it sedan or minivan, are the very best players.”
Dyer owns a Chrysler Pacifica plugin hybrid minivan, the only plugin hybrid van currently on the market. He likes that it allows him to drive for an EPA-estimated 32 miles on electricity before the V6 gasoline engine even has to run.
“I can go to work and never have to buy gas,” he said. “That’s a huge, huge bonus of the Pacifica Hybrid.”
Because it carries its large battery pack under the floor, the Pacifica Hybrid doesn’t have one of Chrysler’s most famous features. It lacks the so-called Stow-n-Go seats available in other versions of the Pacifica. These are back seats that fold down under the floor leaving behind a flat space for carrying large items. (The back seats on the plugin hybrid are removable, though.)
The popularity of those folding seats hints at one of the key competitive points in the minivan market, clever gadgets and features. Minivans don’t usually sell based on how fast they are or on how well they handle a curve — although, with their lower ride height, they can be nicer to drive than some SUVs.
Generally, minivans are about practicality so the built-in vacuum cleaner introduced in the Odyssey in 2013 was, for most shoppers, probably a bigger deal than its relatively nimble handling. Other minivans now also offer built-in vacuums.
Beyond the clever amenities, technology has become the new battleground among minivans. Screens for the backseat passengers offer all sorts of entertainment from streaming video to interactive games.
“I can ride in the back and play checkers against my kid over in the other seat on our screens right in front of us or play Roadtrip Bingo or Hangman, things like that,” said Pacifica owner Dyer.
The Odyssey offers CabinWatch, an interior camera that allows the driver to see into rear-facing car seats and CabinTalk, a system that allows the driver to speak to rear-seat occupants through the van’s speakers or headphones.
Seats are another big competitive point. Second row minivan seats can rival those in the Business Class section of an airplane. The Kia Carnival’s so-called VIP Lounge Seats recline far back and footrests rise from underneath. The Toyota Sienna’s second row seats can slide back more than two feet for more legroom. The Honda Odyssey comes with seats that can be shifted sideways apart from each other.
“If you have kids that are hitting each other you can separate them,” said Jimmy Jenkins, head of product planning at Honda.
These vans are worth putting all this technology and design effort into, automakers say, because they bring in customers they might not attract otherwise. For Stellantis, the Pacifica plugin hybrid is bringing in customers who had been driving Chevrolet Bolt EVs and even Teslas, said Mary Ann Capo, head of marketing for the Pacifica.
“They tend to be younger, wealthier, just a premium buyer that we weren’t attracting before,” she said.
Honda claims the Odyssey buyers stay with the brand even after they trade in the minivan after their kids leave home.
“I guarantee you 100% it keeps them in the Honda brand almost for life,” said Jenkins.
If minivans can attract and hold on to customers as well they can hold strollers, then they might just have a future.
