Lower fuel prices and bold, new entries into the marketplace had car shoppers flocking to trucks in 2014, making this the year of the truck, according to AutoTrader.com. The Ford F-150 took the number one spot across new, used and CPO vehicles, while its rival, the Chevrolet Silverado, ended up the second most popular new and CPO vehicle.
Among new cars, trucks and SUVs took seven of the top 10 spots.
Auto Trader also found a surge of interest in sports cars across new, used and CPO vehicles throughout the year, with the Corvette taking the lead.
On the other hand, mainstream midsize sedan sales slumped. In the CPO category, the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Volkswagen Jetta landed in the top 20 but only the Ford Fusion and Honda Accord were included in the top 20 most popular new vehicles — and the latter was the lone entry on the used list.
“If gas prices continue to stay low in 2015, it will be interesting to see if this segment remains stagnant, or if the automakers will be able to revive it with freshened products and creative marketing efforts,” said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst, AutoTrader.com, in a press release.
To determine the most popular vehicles, Auto Trader tracked the number of car shoppers who clicked on a listing for sale on its website.
