The Best-Selling Vehicles of 2017 Aren’t All Trucks and SUVs (Just Most of Them)

The best year ever for auto sales in the United States was 2016; predictably, 2017 couldn’t quite keep the good times going. But it was far from a shabby year for automakers. The continuing rise of SUV, crossover, and pickup-truck sales fueled plenty of growth and profitability, even if major players including General Motors, Ford, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler saw minor sales declines overall. This list of best-selling vehicles for 2017 might look familiar in its makeup, but the order has changed significantly as several crossovers displaced compact cars and mid-size sedans from their 2016 sales ranks. Read on to find out how these best-sellers fared.

Hyundai’s compact car pulled off an upset right at the end of the year, bumping the Toyota Tacoma mid-size pickup out of the top 20 best-sellers as it beat it by just 86 units overall. The Hyundai’s showing still wasn’t all that strong, considering that it sold about 10,000 fewer units than it did in 2016. This is despite an expanded lineup that includes both standard sedan and GT hatchback body styles, as well as a newly invigorated Elantra Sport with 201 horsepower. READ MORE ››

The mid-size sedan’s slow fall from grace can be illustrated by the Ford Fusion’s sharp decline in 2017. Sales were down more than 21 percent, and it was beaten by two of Ford’s SUV offerings, the Escape and the Explorer, not to mention the F-series pickup. Rumors are now circulating that the Fusion may be axed from Ford’s U.S. lineup in the near future. READ MORE ››

The Highlander’s sales uptick can be counted among Toyota’s biggest wins in 2017, as its numbers were up more than 12 percent compared with 2016. This family-oriented three-row crossover is hardly exciting, but it did receive an update for 2017 that brought a more powerful engine and new standard safety tech. READ MORE ››

Even if General Motors combined the sales of the Sierra and the Chevrolet Silverado (they are the same truck in different outfits, after all), the total would still fall short of the Ford F-series by tens of thousands of units. GMC sold just about the same number of Sierras in 2017 as it did the previous year. But it does get extra points for showing off one of the coolest retro concepts of the year. Following the recent debut of the next-generation Silverado, a brand-new Sierra is on the horizon, so expect a boost in sales. READ MORE ››

Excitement doesn’t always sell cars, and the Nissan Sentra is proof. With its low base price, middling performance, and rental-car vibe, it won’t quicken anyone’s pulse, but it sure did find plenty of buyers in 2017. Its total for the year beat several other key compact-car rivals such as the Chevrolet Cruze, the Ford Focus, and the Hyundai Elantra, although we’d choose any of those competitors over the Nissan if it were our dollar. READ MORE ››

It may be one of the oldest SUVs in Ford’s portfolio, but the Explorer benefits from its well-established name. Sales grew by 10 percent for the year, and the Explorer can claim the title of best-selling three-row vehicle in the land, beating the second-place Toyota Highlander by more than 20,000 units. (Note that we aren’t counting sales of the Explorer-based Police Interceptor Utility in this total, of which 33,075 were sold in 2017.) READ MORE ››

Perhaps more than any other brand, Jeep has thrived in our current SUV-crazed marketplace. Although Jeep sales fell slightly overall compared with its record-breaking year in 2016, the Grand Cherokee made big gains, with a 13 percent increase in sales. That was enough for it to beat the Wrangler and the Cherokee and make it Jeep’s best-seller. READ MORE ››

As Nissan’s Rogue crossover soared, its Altima mid-size sedan faltered. While in previous years the Altima has been in contention with the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord for best-selling-car status, it dropped significantly in 2017, with sales falling 17 percent. A redesigned version is due soon, which could possibly jump-start things, but it’ll have to contend with fresh versions of the Camry and the Accord, both of which were redesigned and vastly improved for the 2018 model year. READ MORE ››

Even the aging and uncompetitive previous-generation Equinox was GM’s second-best-selling vehicle overall in 2016, after the Silverado pickup, so it’s no surprise that the arrival of the far superior, redesigned 2018 Equinox gave the nameplate a boost-sales were up nearly 20 percent in 2017. The Equinox left Chevrolet’s mass-market passenger cars, the Cruze and the Malibu, far behind, as neither even cracked 190,000 sales for the year. READ MORE ››

While many of its compact-crossover competitors made significant sales jumps in 2017, the Ford Escape was essentially flat on the year, recording a meager 0.4 percent increase. Even so, that result amounted to a record total for the Escape, which far outstripped Ford’s mid-size sedan offering, the Fusion, by nearly 100,000 units. READ MORE ››

Honda’s consistently excellent Accord entered into its tenth generation last year, and the new 2018 model earned the Accord a spot on our 10Best Cars list for the 32nd time. Largely because of the model changeover, overall sales in 2017 dropped a little more than 6 percent, but it still managed to be one of the 10 best-selling vehicles in America. The 2018 sales year could be brighter for the Accord as production and inventories of the new model fully ramp up. READ MORE ››

The Corolla is perhaps the best example of how important name recognition can be for consumers. Recent years have seen Toyota’s compact car far surpassed by competitors in terms of fuel economy, driving pleasure, technology, and design, and yet it continues to rack up big sales on the back of its longstanding reputation for reliability. Admittedly, 2017 wasn’t the Corolla’s best showing, as sales dropped 13 percent for the year, but it still managed to sneak into the top 10 best-selling vehicles overall. READ MORE ››

In a year when crossovers ruled supreme on the sales charts, the Honda Civic compact was a rare bright spot for conventional cars. Fresh off a redesign for the 2016 model year, the Civic lineup expanded for 2017 with the addition of a hatchback body style and high-performance Si and Type R variants that generated some buzz among the enthusiast community-and also earned a Car and Driver 10Best Cars honor for 2018. Honda cashed in on the hype, with sales rising 3 percent, good enough for second place among all passenger cars on this list. READ MORE ››

Although the Toyota RAV4 dethroned the CR-V from its long reign as the best-selling SUV, it’s not as if the Honda faltered in 2017. In fact, CR-V sales were up 6 percent compared with 2016, and it narrowly beat the Civic compact to claim the title of best-selling Honda. READ MORE ››

The best-selling car is dead; long live the best-selling crossover! Toyota’s venerable Camry sedan held the title of best-selling nonpickup for years, but it was beaten out by its own sibling in 2017, the RAV4 compact SUV. A complete model changeover to the redesigned and reinvigorated 2018 Camry was partially to blame, as inventories declined as a result of the transition. We’ll see how 2018 shapes up for the new Camry, which will have to fight off the similarly all-new Honda Accord. READ MORE ››

Although it couldn’t quite match the pace of its direct competitor, the Toyota RAV4, the Nissan Rogue crossover is easily one of the biggest sales winners of the year. Its numbers jumped a remarkable 22 percent over 2016, and it was by far the best-selling vehicle in Nissan’s lineup. The numbers could be considered artificially enhanced, however, because the totals include sales of both the compact Rogue and the subcompact Rogue Sport, two distinct models that compete in different segments. READ MORE ››

In 2017, Toyota’s RAV4 compact crossover surpassed the venerable Camry mid-size sedan in U.S. sales for the first time ever, claiming the title of best-selling nontruck in the entire country (and just barely holding off the surging Nissan Rogue). This is made even more surprising by the fact that the RAV4 is late in its life cycle and likely will receive a full redesign in 2018. READ MORE ››

Ram turned in a strong performance in 2017, outpacing the previous year by 2 percent despite the fact that the current-generation light-duty Ram 1500 is in its final model year before an all-new version debuts. Ram’s overall pickup sales, which like its competitors include heavy-duty models as well, narrowed the gap between it and the Chevrolet Silverado-and Ram even outsold Chevy in some months. Not a bad showing for an old-timer. READ MORE ››

Chevrolet didn’t know it at the time, but naming its pickup the Silverado could not have been more fitting. The Silverado just can’t seem to get out of its second-place status. Lucky for Chevy fans, the repeated losses are driving the Silverado’s continuous improvement. We got a small glimpse of the next-generation truck with the 2019 1500 LT Trailboss, and the full lineup will be announced soon at the 2018 Detroit auto show. Expect a lighter, more efficient truck with continued use of high-strength steel and V-8s and the addition of new small-displacement, forced-induction powerplants. READ MORE ››