Crossovers are popular passenger cars among Americans. This category accounts for more than 45% of US car sales as of June 2022. The most popular models include Honda’s CR-V, Nissan’s Rogue, and Toyota’s RAV4. In the first quarter of 2022, U.S. car buyers purchased just under 101,200 Toyota RAV4 models, making them the best-selling vehicle in the category.
Toyota is the market leader
The RAV4 was one of the first models of its kind, entering production in 1994. Toyota became his second most valuable automaker in the world in 2022, with a brand value just above his $33.1 billion. It followed Tesla in first place, with a difference of more than $42 billion from second place. Toyota’s net revenue will increase to 31.4 trillion yen (approximately USD 257 billion at March 2022 exchange rates) in 2022, despite being affected by the global automotive chip shortage in 2021. Achieved a visible growth of more than 15% compared to 2007.
Crossovers benefit from shift from sedans
Crossover SUVs (sports utility vehicles) combine the fuel economy levels of small and medium-sized cars with the elevated seating position of light trucks. It became popular when fuel prices were low, and as a result, automakers increased production and added models of this type of vehicle. From 2014 to 2021, U.S. car sales fell from more than 7.7 million to about 3.34 million. At the same time, light truck sales increased from 8.7 million units in 2014 to nearly 11.6 million units in 2021. Light truck sales decreased by 9.6% in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vehicle demand. Countries around the world are being affected by this decline in car sales. In 2020, SUV sales in Germany decreased by more than 140,000 units compared to 2019, while the number of new SUV registrations in China remained stable for two years.