Sales in the Large SUV segment increased by 21.8 percent in 2016, making it the second-fastest growing segment, behind the 44.1 percent achieved by the Subcompact SUV segment, but ahead of the 21.0 percent achieved by the Premium Compact SUV segment. What’s even more remarkable is that this growth was driven by a surge in the second half of the year that saw sales rise by 34.9 percent, the fastest growth from among segments. Still, the lower year-0n-year growth saw the Large SUV segment fall behind the Subcompact SUV segment in sales terms, making it the smallest mainstream SUV segment, with 2016 sales of 344,235 only a little over half of what they were in 2006 (620,283). 2017 may finally see the introduction of an all-new Ford Expedition, a car that by some measures could be thought of as the oldest mass-produced model on the US market (even though theoretically in its third generation, the current Expedition can trace its roots to the first model introduced in 1997, which is obvious when you compare the doors or the windows).
Highlights for 2016:
- Chevrolet Tahoe remains the undisputed segment leader, especially when you add in the sales of Chevrolet Suburban, which is basically a longer-wheelbase version of the Tahoe; both models enjoyed a healthy 17-18 percent growth rate
- Ford Expedition enjoyed the highest sales growth in the segment (44 percent), allowing the geriatric model to regain third place that it briefly lost in 2015 to GMC Yukon
- GMC Yukon, and its long-wheelbase version Yukon XL, close cousins to the Tahoe and Suburban, took fourth and fifth places in the standings, and also enjoyed solid growth in 2016
- The new-for-2016 Nissan Armada, based on the international Nissan Patrol rather than the Titan pick-up, as the first generation was, enjoyed a solid if unspectacular 10 percent growth rate, allowing it to grab the title of top-selling Large SUV from a foreign carmaker, a title “hotly” contested between it and two Toyota models: the Sequoia (based on the Tundra pick-up, sales up 1 percent) and the internationally sold Land Cruiser (sales up 38 percent)
Note: Clicking on the model name opens the sales data page for that model; clicking year in the legend turns the display for that year on/off