With manufacturers chasing what seems to be ever smaller slices of the sales pie, it often begs the question, just what are the most profitable vehicles currently available?
That’s a question Max Warburton and his team at Bernstein Research in London, UK attempted to answer by looking at the automotive marketplace and creating a list of the best four-wheeled moneymakers in the last two decades.
The winners were those that combined relatively high prices, large volume and long shelf life, allowing development and tooling costs to be spread out over a longer period.
And based on that criteria; it probably wasn’t surprising that the Ford F-150 pickup came up trumps.
In fact full-size American trucks in general fared best with the Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra twins and the Dodge/Ram 1500 garnering the second and third top spots. German luxury cars and mid-size Japanese sedans also fared well.
What is interesting is that the F-150, Silverado / Sierra and Ram, collectively generated about $108 billion U.S. in pre-tax earnings in the last 20 years, which is about the same as the other vehicles that rounded out Bernstein’s 12 “Most Profitable” list (the Mercedes-Benz S and E-Class, BMW 5 and 3-series, Lexus RX, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Honda Accord, Porsche 911 and Toyota Camry) combined.
