The full-sized SUV segment in the US grew 5% in 2019 to return to above half a million annual sales for the first time since 2007. This segment takes 3% of the total US car market, up from 2.8% in 2018. Over half of all sales in this class (including luxury SUVs) are for a General Motors product (52.3% market share), despite having one of the oldest line-ups in the segment. A new generation of the GM products was launched early 2020 and should bring them closer to the competition in terms of technology. Especially in the non-luxury part of this class, fleet sales to government, large businesses and rental companies are a very important market for this type of vehicle, which makes price more important than ride quality, handling and refinement. This explains why GM is still so successful with an inferior product to Ford. Still, the Ford Expedition was the fastest growing model in the class with a 36% increase as the new generation had a very slow ramp-up after its late 2018 launch. It reaches its highest annual sales since 2007 at nearly 89,000 sales for the regular wheelbase version and the longer Expedition Max combined. In 2019, 21.1% of Expeditions sold in the US were Police Interceptors, down from over 50% in the four years before. The Chevrolet Tahoe stays just above 100k and maintains the top spot, and with the long wheelbase Suburban combined Chevy sold over 150,000 in 2019. The GMC Yukon and Yukon XL are down by single digits but sold nearly 75,000 units. The Nissan Armada is down 2% and remains close to the top-5, way ahead of the Toyota Sequoia and Land Cruiser. The latter is a niche model, selling even less than its luxury version Lexus LX and is rumored to be pulled from the US market.
In the luxury part of the segment, which makes up 20.7% of total full-sized SUV sales, GM is also king with the Cadillac Escalade keeping its crown even with just the short wheelbase version counted separately. Combined, the Escalade and long wheelbase Escalade ESV are down 4% to 35,400 sales while their nearest rival Mercedes-Benz GLS is up 1% to 22,200 sales thanks to the new generation. The all-new BMW X7 had higher average monthly sales rate than each of the former two (excluding ESV), making it a serious contender for the top spot among luxury SUVs in 2020, not bad for a latecomer to the party and proof they should have been much earlier to enter this segment (are you reading this, @Jeep?). The Infiniti QX80 and Range Rover are stable, both down fewer than 200 sales off their record year 2018 and they stay ahead of the Lincoln Navigator, up 5% to enjoy its highest annual sales since 2007.
US Full-sized SUV sales 2019
| Large SUV segment | 2019 | 2018 | Change | |
| 1 | Chevrolet Tahoe | 101.189 | 104.153 | -3% |
| 2 | Ford Expedition | 88.830 | 65.542 | 36% |
| 3 | Chevrolet Suburban | 51.928 | 60.633 | -14% |
| 4 | GMC Yukon | 41.697 | 45.982 | -9% |
| 5 | GMC Yukon XL | 32.976 | 34.802 | -5% |
| 6 | Nissan Armada | 32.044 | 32.650 | -2% |
| 7 | Cadillac Escalade | 22.478 | 24.815 | -9% |
| 8 | Mercedes-Benz GLS | 22.223 | 21.973 | 1% |
| 9 | BMW X7 | 21.574 | 0 | New |
| 10 | Infiniti QX80 | 19.113 | 19.207 | 0% |
| 11 | Range Rover | 18.831 | 19.030 | -1% |
| 12 | Lincoln Navigator | 18.656 | 17.839 | 5% |
| 13 | Cadillac Escalade ESV | 12.946 | 12.057 | 7% |
| 14 | Toyota Sequoia | 10.289 | 11.121 | -7% |
| 15 | Lexus LX | 4.718 | 4.753 | -1% |
| 16 | Toyota Land Cruiser | 3.536 | 3.235 | 9% |
| Segment total | 503.028 | 477.792 | 5% |
Source: Manufacturers.