Sedans are a thing again.<\/p>\n
I never thought I’d be excited by commuter cars, but here we are. We are three-quarters of the way through 2026, and it seems that sedans are seeing more year-over-year growth than SUVs.<\/p>\n
So, the headline is slightly misleading. SUVs are still America’s sweetheart. America’s boring, ugly, overweight sweetheart. They make up the vast majority of new-car sales in the United States. However, sedans are seeing a huge growth that could see a change in the car industry.<\/p>\n
According to Car and Driver, some of America’s most popular automakers saw sedan sales grow much<\/strong> more than truck and SUV sales. This includes Toyota and Honda, with the latter reporting its sedans, hatchbacks, and sports cars seeing a 15.6% increase over last year. According to Honda, this was the best quarter for passenger car sales since 2020. Meanwhile, its SUVs have been essentially the same, rising only 0.3%.<\/p>\n The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord stood out for having the largest year-over-year sales increase. The Camry was up 11.2%, bringing it to 260,684 units sold, while the Accord was up 32.7%, reporting 145,520 units sold. The Toyota Corolla saw an 8.4% increase (191,141 units sold), and the Honda Civic saw a 5.4% increase (195,135 units sold).<\/p>\n Toyota and Honda were not the only ones. The Mazda 3 was up by a whopping 42.3%.<\/p>\n Kia and Hyundai also saw a similar trend. The Hyundai Elantra reported an 11% increase in sales. The Hyundai Sonata and Kia K5, mid-size sedans, also saw sales increases.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, it wasn’t only cost-effective sedans that saw this sales trend. Luxury models like the BMW 3-Series, Lexus IS, and Acura Integra saw impressive increases of 37.3%, 51.7%, and 37.3%, respectively.<\/p>\n The reason is not surprising. It’s what I’ve been saying all along: Americans want cheap cars<\/a>. GIVE US THE CHEAP CARS, DAMNIT!<\/p>\n Automakers have focused on SUVs over the years because they have seen increased sales of their luxury behemoths. Meanwhile, sedans and small cars were losing sales. Seems obvious, right?<\/p>\n The issue was that automakers were going by numbers alone. In reality, Americans just didn’t have money for sedans as prices increased. Meanwhile, rich people were able to keep buying their over-the-top SUVs with no issue.<\/p>\n It’s not that Americans didn’t want sedans. It’s because they couldn’t afford them anymore, especially as the average price of a new car shot up to nearly $50,000.<\/p>\n As gas prices skyrocket<\/a>, tariffs increase vehicle costs, and monthly payments keep\u00a0<\/a>rising<\/a>, Americans feel<\/span> a bit cornered. The only new cars they can really afford are sedans, like the Honda Accord, Mazda 3, and Toyota Corolla. At the same time, sedans get better fuel economy than SUVs, saving money at the pump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sedans are a thing again. I never thought I’d be excited by commuter cars, but here we are. We are … <\/p>\nWhich sedans are winning?<\/h2>\n
Why are sedans back?<\/h2>\n