While every driver is typically looking for a car that requires minimal auto repair and maintenance, the vehicles that are most popular vary throughout the country. Differing terrain and lifestyles will cause drivers in some cities and states to gravitate toward certain cars, while others may be drawn to different automobiles entirely. With the Super Bowl fast approaching, Cars.com conducted a study to determine the preferences specifically among residents in the participating teams' home cities. After polling more than 300,000 car buyers over the past year in both Denver and Seattle and analyzing the most searched models by shoppers in both cities during the fourth quarter, Cars.com revealed some interesting findings.
Striking similarities
According to the company's research, the Ford-150 is the top selling model in both Seattle and Denver - which comes as no surprise as it is also the most popular vehicle in the U.S. A brand that managed to attract drivers in both states is Subaru: It was the most prevalent in Denver's top 10 list and additionally, made its way into the second and third spots in Seattle's top 10. One interesting discovery was that the drivers in both cities are younger than the industry average age, which is 52. Another trend between the cities is that the model that women in both Seattle and Denver bought most was the Honda CR-V, while men in both cities were drawn to the Ford F-150. In both cities, the Jeep Grand Cherokee was the most searched for vehicle.
"Even though they are more than one thousand miles apart, Seattle and Denver are similar in their demographic composition, which is reflected directly in how close the car buying preferences are in each city," said Jesse Toprak, Chief Analyst at Cars.com. "Adverse climate is also clearly influencing buyer preferences, with SUVs and trucks dominating the rankings.
Slight differences
One discrepancy, though, is that Seattle drivers preferred import brands, while Denver shoppers divided their interests between domestic and import brands. Furthermore, Seattle's top 10 is evenly split between trucks and SUVs and cars, while Denver shoppers were partial to SUVs and trucks. A whopping eight out of the top 10 selling cars in Denver were in that category.
So what about the rest of the country? According to eCredit Daily, iSeeCars.com found that the BMW 3 Series is surprisingly the top seller among drivers in San Francisco, Miami and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, The Truth About Cars revealed that the Honda Accord is the most popular vehicle in New York City. Additionally, while the Ford F-Series is prominent on the sales charts outside of NYC, the car ranks No. 32 in the Big Apple.