This Is the Best-Selling Car of 2022

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Apr 27, 5:00PM EDT

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This Is the Best-Selling Car of 2022 — © Tramino / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

The car industry in 2021 and 2022 is nothing like what it has been, possibly ever. Shortages of new and used cars, primarily due to a shortage of microchips used in electronic and navigation systems, have hammered inventory. Popular vehicles are not only hard to come by. They are extremely expensive compared to just two years ago. And though sales figures are lower than years past, the best selling car of 2022 is the Ford F-Series.

For the auto industry, the situation is a double-edged sword. Car companies’ revenue have been hurt by a lack of sales. However, manufacturers need to use far fewer incentives to lure buyers, which improves margins. Dealers can charge more for cars, but they have far fewer of them. (While cars have gone up in price, this is the cheapest car in America.)

The cars, SUVs, and light trucks that have sold well for a decade have not changed, even as the car sales landscape has been altered. Mid-sized sedans have little demand. Small, fuel-efficient cars continue to have brisk demand. As gas prices rise to record highs, fuel efficient cars will be even more attractive.

Remaining consistent with the trend in recent years, and despite soaring gas prices, the sale of SUVs and pickup trucks dominate the list of the best-selling cars in America. This was the case through the first quarter of 2022. The waiting list for some of these is substantial, as people wait weeks, or even months, for the vehicles they want.

To determine the best-selling car of 2022, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed Car and Driver’s The 25 Bestselling Cars, Trucks, and SUVs of 2022 (So Far), which lists the best-selling cars in the first quarter. Among the top 25 best sellers are SUVs, including the Nissan Rogue, Jeep Wrangler, and Chevy Equinox.

America’s three full-size pickups have remained the three best-selling vehicles for years. The Ford F-series has been in first place for four decades. Even a drop in first-quarter sales of 31% has not changed that. F-Series sales totaled 140,701 in the first three months of the year. Most years, Ford sells close to 700,000.

Trailing the F-Series, the Ram pickup had sales of 127,116 in the first quarter. This was off 15% from the same period last year. GM’s Chevy Silverado sold 118,796 units from January through March.

Even with gas above $4, America remains a pickup nation and it is unlikely that these three vehicles will be replaced in their spots at the top of the list. Ford, to help secure its No. 1 spot, will launch an electric engine version of the F-150, Lightning. (The Lightning, if you can get it ahead of its launch this week, is among the cheapest electric vehicles you can buy.)

Click here to see the best-selling car of 2022

2019 Subaru Crosstrek 2.0 USDM by Rutger van der Maar

2019 Subaru Crosstrek 2.0 USDM (CC BY 2.0) by Rutger van der Maar

25. Subaru Crosstrek
> Units sold Q1 2022: 37,463

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24. Nissan Altima
> Units sold Q1 2022: 38,295

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23. Honda Civic
> Units sold Q1 2022: 38,515

22. Hyundai Tucson
> Units sold Q1 2022: 39,655

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21. Ford Escape
> Units sold Q1 2022: 39,962

20. Tesla Model 3
> Units sold Q1 2022: 40,200

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19. Honda Accord
> Units sold Q1 2022: 42,039

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18. Honda HR-V
> Units sold Q1 2022: 42,168

17. Ford Explorer
> Units sold Q1 2022: 42,736

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16. Nissan Rogue
> Units sold Q1 2022: 45,235

15. Jeep Wrangler
> Units sold Q1 2022: 45,551

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14. Toyota Corolla
> Units sold Q1 2022: 47,501

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13. Mazda CX-5
> Units sold Q1 2022: 50,653

12. Toyota Tacoma
> Units sold Q1 2022: 53,182

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2021 Tesla Model Y (CC BY 2.0) by Greg Gjerdingen

11. Tesla Model Y
> Units sold Q1 2022: 55,000

10. Chevy Equinox
> Units sold Q1 2022: 56,036

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9. GMC Sierra
> Units sold Q1 2022: 56,617

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8. Honda CR-V
> Units sold Q1 2022: 58,579

7. Toyota Camry
> Units sold Q1 2022: 61,505

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6. Toyota Highlander
> Units sold Q1 2022: 66,026

5. Jeep Grand Cherokee
> Units sold Q1 2022: 75,117

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4. Toyota RAV4
> Units sold Q1 2022: 101,192

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3. Chevy Silverado
> Units sold Q1 2022: 118,796

2. Ram Pickup
> Units sold Q1 2022: 127,116

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1. Ford F-Series
> Units sold Q1 2022: 140,701

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.