America’s Favorite Car Brands, by Generation
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Brand preferences often differ between generations, but does this hold true when it comes to cars?
To find out, we visualized data from Insurify to reveal America’s favorite car brands, by generation. The color of each brand corresponds to its nationality (American, Japanese, etc).
To come up with this ranking, Insurify analyzed car ownership rates across each generation based on 4.5 million customer applications between 2023 and 2024.
Data and Key Takeaways
The data we used to create this graphic is listed in the tables below, starting with Baby Boomers and Gen X.
| Rank | Baby Boomer | Boomer Ownership Rate |
Gen X | Gen X Ownership Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ford |
13% | Chevrolet |
13% |
| 2 |  Toyota |
12% | Ford |
12% |
| 3 | Chevrolet |
12% | Toyota |
10% |
| 4 | Nissan |
10% | Nissan |
9% |
| 5 | Honda |
8% | Honda |
8% |
| 6 |  Hyundai |
6% | Hyundai |
6% |
| 7 | Kia |
6% | Kia |
5% |
| 8 | Dodge |
4% | Dodge |
5% |
| 9 | Jeep |
4% | Jeep |
4% |
| 10 |  Mercedes-Benz |
2% | GMC |
3% |
Brand preferences between these two cohorts is largely the same, though Boomers prefer Ford while Gen X prefers Chevrolet.
Boomers also stand out with their #10 choice, Mercedes-Benz. They’re the only generation with a luxury marque in their top 10, which may have something to do with the fact that Boomers own over half of the country’s wealth.
Next, we look at Millennials and Gen Z.
| Rank | Millennial | Millenia Ownership Rate | Gen Z | Gen Z Ownership Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevrolet |
13% | Honda |
12% |
| 2 | Ford |
11% | Chevrolet |
11% |
| 3 | Toyota |
10% | Ford |
11% |
| 4 | Honda |
9% | Toyota |
11% |
| 5 | Nissan |
9% | Nissan |
9% |
| 6 | Hyundai |
6% | Hyundai |
8% |
| 7 | Dodge |
6% | Kia |
6% |
| 8 | Kia |
6% | Dodge |
5% |
| 9 | Jeep |
4% | Jeep |
3% |
| 10 | GMC |
2% | Volkswagen |
2% |
Millennials have very similar tastes as the previously shown Gen Xers, with only a few brands swapping places.
Meanwhile, Gen Z is unique in that a non-American brand (Honda) is its most popular pick. Zoomers are also the only generation with Volkswagen in its top 10.
Looking at the rankings as a whole, another interesting takeaway is Hyundai’s grip on sixth place across all U.S. generations. Alongside Kia, the two Korean brands have made a big push into the American market over the past decade. They currently command a 10% market share in the U.S., which is double of what it was in 2008.
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If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out our ranking of the most reliable car brands in the U.S.
