Americans still love their pickup trucks, but they loved them a little bit less in 2023.
A study of the bestselling used cars by iSeeCars found that the Ford F-150 was once again the bestselling used vehicle last year, with the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 right behind it.
The Dodge Ram 1500, however, slipped out of the top three, replaced by an SUV—the Chevrolet Equinox. And the Toyota Corolla had a big year with used-car shoppers, moving up six places on the annual rankings, from No. 13 in 2022 to No. 8 last year.
“Trucks have been so dominant in the U.S. market for so long that it’s strange to see the Ram lose its top three ranking, even to an SUV as popular as the Chevrolet Equinox,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars. “This shift reflects the jump in gas prices during 2023, which led many consumers to move away from large trucks and SUVs and into smaller, more fuel-efficient models.”
Sales of electric vehicles also saw a shake-up last year. While Tesla still held the top and runner-up spots, with the Model 3 topping sales and the Model Y coming in second, the Model S and Model X saw sharp drop-offs, falling from third and fourth place last year to fifth and sixth in 2023. The Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf moved up the charts in their place.
“Without major updates to Tesla’s most expensive vehicles they are likely to continue dropping in popularity,” said Brauer.
The F-150 Lightning didn’t make the list of used EV sales, but the dominance of the F-150 is still hard to overstate. The truck was the bestselling car in 34 states—and many major metropolitan areas.
More change could be on the way, however: iSeeCars notes that buyers appear to be looking to lower their purchase and ownership costs, a trend it expects to continue this year. That could mean more used-car shoppers lean toward vehicles like the Equinox, Honda CR-V, and Corolla.
