The Ford F-150 was one of the few used vehicle models to remain unaffected by economic trends in 2023, retaining its top-selling spot even as pickups saw a slight decline in popularity.
Throughout last year, pre-owned trends fluctuated heavily under pressure from internal and external factors, including high new car prices, rising fuel costs, interest rates, inflation, and inventory constraints. These elements contributed to several shifts in the top 20 list of best-selling used vehicles.
Ford’s F-150 pickup retained its position as America’s best-selling pre-owned car from 2022, even keeping the same 3.3% market share (excluding purchases for units older than five years). The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 truck also defended its second-place position in 2023, losing a slight amount of sales to occupy 2.6% of the used vehicle market.
Despite the continued popularity of pickups, the third top-selling pre-owned model was not a pickup, marking a sudden deviation from previous years. The Ram 1500 lost 0.2% of its market share, falling to fourth place for the first time in several years. The truck was instead succeeded by the Chevrolet Equinox SUV, which lost only 0.1% of its 2022 market share. The fifth-place spot saw a similar upset, with the ever-popular Honda Civic losing its position to the Toyota Camry.
Karl Brauer, iSeeCars.com Executive Analyst, attributed this and other shifts in the used vehicle market to economic conditions seen throughout 2023. “Trucks have been so dominant in the U.S. market for so long that it’s strange to see the Ram lose its top-three ranking, even to an SUV as popular as the Chevrolet Equinox,” he noted. “This shift reflects the jump in gas prices during 2023, which led many consumers to move away from large trucks and SUVs and into smaller, more fuel-efficient models.”
