Top 40 Best-Selling Vehicles In America In 2004

A quick examination of 2004's 30 best-selling vehicles in America list will reveal that 26.7% of the nameplates were General Motors products. In October 2011 that figure was 20%, for some perspective, and in 2003 the number had been 30%. GM was still selling cars by the boatload, but market share was certainly in decline. General Motors market share in 2002 was 28.6% and fell slightly to 28.3% in 2003. GM market share slid to 27.5% a year later.

G.W. Bush was reelected president, Michael Phelps won eight medals at the Athens Olympics, the National Hockey League season never began, and Honda sold a hatchback Civic in North America. It was 2004, and the U.S. new vehicle market grew by 1.4%. The Ford F-Series alone was up 11.5%, equal to 93,925 more sales than in 2003. This means, you could say, 40% of the market's growth came as a result of the growth of America's best-selling vehicle, a crazy feat indeed. 

Sales of America's best-selling car, the Toyota Camry, were up 3.3% from 2003. The best-selling SUV in the United States was the Ford Explorer but sales fell 9.1% from more than 370K to less than 340K. Trailing the Explorer on the best-selling SUV list were Chevrolet's TrailBlazer and Tahoe, Ford's Escape, the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty, Ford Expedition, Honda CR-V, Dodge Durango, and GMC Envoy. Yep, just the one import among the ten most popular sport-utility vehicles in America. The minivan crown was worn by the Dodge Grand Caravan - its lead over the Toyota Sienna was more than 83,000 units strong.

Embarrassingly, the Buick LeSabre remained a member of the top 40 in 2004. The Chevrolet Cavalier was way up in 16th spot. The Ford Taurus certainly wasn't the most exciting car in America in 2004 but Americans bought nearly a quarter million of of them anyhow.

You can see America's top 40 best-selling vehicles from 2002 here. 2003's list can be scanned here. Start searching for other types of best seller lists here. Below, you'll find America's top 40 best-selling vehicles in 2004.

Rank	Best-Selling Vehicle	2004 Sales	% Change  From 2003
#1	Ford F-Series	939,511	+ 11.5%
#2	Chevrolet Silverado	680,768	- 0.5%
#3	Toyota Camry	426,990	+ 3.3%
#4	Dodge Ram	426,389	- 5.1%
#5	Honda Accord	386,770	- 2.8%
#6	Ford Explorer	339,333	- 9.1%
#7	Honda Civic	309,196	+ 3.2%
#8	Chevrolet Impala	290,259	+ 8.4%
#9	Chevrolet TrailBlazer	283,484	+ 8.5%
#10	Ford Taurus	248,148	- 17.4%
#11	Dodge Grand Caravan	242,307	+ 3.8%
#12	Toyota Corolla *	238,143	- 7.6%
#13	Nissan Altima	235,889	+ 17.2%
#14	GMC Sierra	213,756	+ 8.7%
#15	Ford Focus	208,339	- 9.2%
#16	Chevrolet Cavalier	195,275	- 23.9%
#17	Chevrolet Tahoe	186,161	- 6.5%
#18	Ford Escape	183,340	+ 9.4%
#19	Jeep Grand Cherokee	182,313	- 12.1%
#20	Chevrolet Malibu	179,806	+ 46.5%
#21	Jeep Liberty	167,376	+ 2.7%
#22	Ford Expedition	159,846	- 12.0%
#23	Toyota Sienna	159,119	+ 50.8%
#24	Ford Ranger	156,322	- 25.2%
#25	Honda Odyssey	154,238	+ 0.1%
#26	Toyota Tacoma	152,932	+ 0.8%
#27	Honda CR-V	149,281	+ 3.7%
#28	Chrysler Town & Country	142,523	+ 18.0%
#29	Dodge Durango	137,148	+ 27.0%
#30	GMC Envoy	134,897	+ 5.6%
#31	Pontiac Grand Am	133,707	- 14.6%
#32	Toyota Highlander	133,077	+ 10.7%
#33	Pontiac Grand Prix	133,551	+ 4.9%
#34	Ford Mustang	129,858	- 7.5%
#35	Honda Pilot	128,158	+ 19.9%
#36	Chevrolet Suburban	119,545	- 11.6%
#37	Chevrolet Colorado	117,475	+ 3223.2%
#38	Chrysler PT Cruiser	115,955	+ 7.6%
#39	Toyota 4Runner	114,212	+ 4.5%
#40	Buick LeSabre	114,157	- 0.4%

Source: ANDC
* Corolla sales figures do not include sales of the Matrix as recent Corolla sales figures do

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Top 40 Best-Selling Vehicles In America In 2003

The Ford Explorer was America's best-selling
SUV in 2003, America's sixth-best-selling vehicle overall

America's new vehicle market shrunk by 1% in 2003. More than half the vehicles appearing on this list of best sellers reported declining sales compared with 2002. 

America's three best-selling vehicles were also America's three best-selling trucks in 2003. All three - the top-selling Ford F-Series, second-ranked Chevrolet Silverado, and the fastest-rising Dodge Ram - posted year-over-year gains. America's four most popular cars did not fare so well. The top-selling Toyota Camry was down 5%, Honda Accord sales slid by less than 1%, the Ford Taurus dropped 10%, and the Honda Civic was down more than 4%.

Remember 2003? America went to war in Iraq, SARS wreaked havoc, Finding Nemo grossed $340 million in North America. And the Ford Explorer was the best-selling SUV in the United States. Sales were down 14% from 2002, however. The Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition, Ford Escape, Jeep Liberty, Honda CR-V, Chevrolet Suburban rounded out the top ten list of best-selling SUVs. That's nine Detroit sport-utilities and one Japanese cute-ute. In 2010 there were four Detroit SUVs among the top 10; none bigger than the Chevrolet Traverse. Moreover, the Honda CR-V was the best-selling SUV in America in 2010.

Before you scan this list and head back to check out 2002's top 40 best-selling vehicles in America, consider one more interesting fact: 30% of the vehicles in the top 30 were built by General Motors. In October 2011, 20% of America's 30 best-selling vehicles were built by General Motors.

Rank	Best-Selling Vehicle	2003 Sales	% Change  From 2002
#1	Ford F-Series	845,586	+ 3.9%
#2	Chevrolet Silverado	684,302	+ 4.9%
#3	Dodge Ram	449,371	+ 13.2%
#4	Toyota Camry	413,296	- 4.8%
#5	Honda Accord	397,750	- 0.3%
#6	Ford Explorer	373,118	- 14.0%
#7	Ford Taurus	300,496	- 9.7%
#8	Honda Civic	299,672	- 4.3%
#9	Chevrolet Impala	267,882	+ 34.7%
#10	Chevrolet TrailBlazer	261,334	+ 4.7%
#11	Toyota Corolla *	257,696	+ 26.3%
#12	Chevrolet Cavalier	256,550	+ 7.7%
#13	Dodge Grand Caravan	233,394	- 4.7%
#14	Ford Focus	229,353	- 5.7%
#15	Ford Ranger	209,117	- 7.5%
#16	Jeep Grand Cherokee	207,479	- 7.5%
#17	Nissan Altima	201,240	- 0.3%
#18	Chevrolet Tahoe	199,065	- 5.1%
#19	GMC Sierra	196,689	- 2.7%
#20	Ford Expedition	181,547	+ 11.1%
#21	Ford Escape	167,678	+ 15.3%
#22	Jeep Liberty	162,987	- 4.8%
#23	Pontiac Grand Am	156,466	+ 3.7%
#24	Toyota Tacoma	154,154	+ 1.4%
#25	Honda Odyssey	154,063	+ 0.4%
#26	Honda CR-V	143,909	+ 1.6%
#27	Ford Mustang	140,350	+ 1.4%
#28	Chrysler Town & Country	140,007	- 4.4%
#29	Chevrolet S10	136,573	- 9.5%
#30	Chevrolet Suburban	135,222	- 10.5%
#31	GMC Envoy	127,782	+ 15.4%
#32	Pontiac Grand Prix	125,441	- 3.6%
#33	Chevrolet Malibu	122,771	- 27.5%
#34	Hyundai Elantra	120,858	+ 0.2%
#35	Toyota Highlander	120,174	+ 6.2%
#36	Dodge Neon	120,101	- 4.8%
#37	Volkswagen Jetta	117,867	- 19.0%
#38	Saturn Ion	117,230	+ 1832.6%
#39	Buick LeSabre	114,572	- 15.7%
#40	Ford Windstar	113,465	- 23.8%

Source: ANDC 
* Corolla sales figures do not include sales of the Matrix as recent Corolla sales figures do

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Top 40 Best-Selling Vehicles In America In 2002

In 2002, the 22nd-best-selling vehicle in America was the Buick Century. Yea verily, in 2002, the ninth-best-selling vehicle in America was the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, incidentally, a vehicle which General Motors will be building again, though apparently not for North America. 

In 2002, America's 34th-most-popular vehicle was the Chrysler PT Cruiser. Ranked 39th was the Dodge Neon. The Buick LeSabre made an appearance in the 35th spot. And Pontiacs sat in positions 28 and 37. 

Of course, the Century and LeSabre are gone. The TrailBlazer has departed. There is no longer a Chrysler PT Cruiser for sale, nor is there a Dodge Neon. Pontiac is dead. What hasn't changed? The Ford F-Series, America's best-selling vehicle today, was, as you know, America's best-selling vehicle in 2002. Together, GM's pickup twins - the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra - beat the F-Series by nearly 41,000 sales.

The best-selling car in America in 2002 was the Toyota Camry. In second was the Honda Accord, more than 35,000 sales back. The third-ranked Ford Taurus was 66,290 sales behind the Accord. 

Finally, the best-selling SUV in the United States in 2002 was the Ford Explorer. No SUV came within 184,000 sales of catching the all-conquering Ford. America's seven best-selling SUVs in 2002 were American, from the Explorer through to the TrailBlazer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chevrolet Tahoe, Jeep Liberty, Ford Expedition, and Chevrolet Suburban. 

The Good Car Girl wisely noted that, at this time of American SUV domination, American SUVs were true sport-utility vehicles. Admittedly, the same bunch of seven SUVs are, for the most part, still more overtly truckish than most offerings from most other automakers. Moreover, though not as popular now as they were in 2002, the Explorer and Grand Cherokee are successful once again. Meanwhile, the TrailBlazer's softer relative, Chevrolet's Equinox, is routinely positioned near the top of America's monthly best-selling SUV lists.

In the table below you'll find the top 40 best-selling vehicles in America from 2002. GoodCarBadCar will be gradually rolling out more historical best seller lists over the next number of weeks - click here for 2003's Top 40. But of course, the current stuff is still available for those who care to forget the past. And the past should, in some instances, be forgotten. The Chevrolet Cavalier? Twelfth? Ick.

Rank	Best-Selling Vehicle	2002 Sales
#1	Ford F-Series	813,701
#2	Chevrolet Silverado	652,646
#3	Toyota Camry	434,145
#4	Ford Explorer	433,847
#5	Honda Accord	398,980
#6	Dodge Ram	396,934
#7	Ford Taurus	332,690
#8	Honda Civic	313,159
#9	Chevrolet TrailBlazer	249,568
#10	Dodge Grand Caravan	244,911
#11	Ford Focus	243,199
#12	Chevrolet Cavalier	238,225
#13	Ford Ranger	226,094
#14	Jeep Grand Cherokee	224,233
#15	Chevrolet Tahoe	209,767
#16	Toyota Corolla	204,050 *
#17	GMC Sierra	202,045
#18	Nissan Altima	201,822
#19	Chevrolet Impala	198,918
#20	Jeep Liberty	171,212
#21	Chevrolet Malibu	169,377
#22	Buick Century	163,739
#23	Ford Expedition	163,454
#24	Honda Odyssey	153,467
#25	Toyota Tacoma	151,960
#26	Chevrolet Suburban	151,056
#27	Chevrolet S10	150,922
#28	Pontiac Grand Am	150,818
#29	Ford Windstar	148,875
#30	Honda CR-V	142,266
#31	Volkswagen Jetta	145,604
#32	Ford Escape	145,471
#33	Ford Mustang	138,356
#34	Chrysler PT Cruiser	138,260
#35	Buick LeSabre	135,916
#36	Dodge Dakota	130,712
#37	Pontiac Grand Prix	130,141
#38	Chrysler Town & Country	126,378
#39	Dodge Neon	126,118
#40	Hyundai Elantra	120,638

Source: ANDC
* Does not include Matrix (55,682 sales in 2002) as modern U.S. Corolla sales stats do

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