Earlier this week we looked at how the US car market has evolved in the past 30 years, and noticed that the local Detroit 3 brands have lost a significant chunk of their impressive market share. The Japanese, European and South-Korean brands have picked up that lost volume and some more as the American manufacturers killed off brands that had almost 3 million sales in 1985. Other brands that are no longer around in the US were much smaller, as only Isuzu (barely) sold more than 100.000 units that year. Suzuki was just launched in 1985 and of the Europeans that have been pulled out Saab was the biggest, with Renault, Peugeot and especially Yugo as niche players, although technically the AMC Alliance and Encore should be considered Renault models as well.
The top 2 best selling vehicles in the United States haven’t changed since 30 years ago, as the Ford F-Series has held the title since 1982, and never gave it up. The Chevrolet Silverado was still called the C/K back then, but already was in second place as it still is today. The RAM pick-up is #3 nowadays, but was far behind in 25th place three decades ago when it was still called the Dodge Ram.
Behind these full-sized pick-up trucks, 30 years ago General Motors and Ford each sold well over 400.000 units of their compact cars, compared to just half of that figure for their successors Cruze and Focus last year.Exactly the opposite has happened for the Corolla and Civic, which were back in 22nd and 29th place in 1985. Similarly, the best selling passenger car in the US has been either the Toyota Camry or the Honda Accord since 1997, but 12 years earlier the Camry was still way back in 37th place, while Accord was already up to #9 thanks to local production. The Ford Taurus, which would lead the US passenger car ranking from 1992 till 1996 was introduced in 1985 and sold just over 4.000 units that year.
Japanese small pick-up trucks were already popular back in the day, as the Toyota SR5 and the Nissan Pickup both outsold the Ford Ranger and the Chevrolet S-10. While the Ranger is no longer available in the US, Chevrolet has just returned to the segment last year with the Colorado, but the Toyota Tacoma is still the leader of the segment today. All have lost quite some volume compared to 30 years ago.
Large sedans were still popular that time, with the Chevrolet Caprice selling almost a quarter of a million units and the Panther platform siblings Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car scored well over 400.000 sales combined.
Photo credit: Car and DriverAnd what about muscle cars? The Chevrolet Camaro was in 17th place with nearly 200.000 sales and the Ford Mustang was in 26th position also selling better than today. Remember the Merkur XR4? This rebadged Euro Ford Sierra sold almost 9.000 units in the US that year. The Japanese also sold their fair share of sports cars, with over 65.000 sales of both the Nissan 300ZX and the 240 SX, over 50.000 sales for the Mazda RX-7 and 23.500 of the Toyota Supra.
Chrysler had stunned the automotive world a few years earlier with the introduction of the first minivan and the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager racked up almost 250.000 sales in 1985 as the competition was still sleeping. In those days Dodge and Plymouth also sold a few rebadged small hatchbacks from Talbot (Dodge Omni / Plymouth Horizon) and Mitsubishi (Dodge/Plymouth Colt), which could be the spiritual ancestors to the Dodge Dart of today, which is also based on a foreign model: the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. In 64th place, the Plymouth Horizon was even the best selling “European” car in the US that year. Add the sales of the Omni to that and the American-made French hatchback would be in the top-30! Did you know they were the first “American” front-wheel drive cars that sold in significant volumes?
The most popular real European car in 1985 was the Volkswagen Jetta in 65th place, and it still is if we split the BMW 4-Series from the 3-Series. Back then, the Golf was only 2 spots behind and the AMC Alliance had only 10.000 sales less than the Jetta. The two years before that the Alliance was even ahead of the Jetta with over 100.000 sales. Pretty impressive for a compact French sedan in the States, although that fairy tale would soon be over. At over 15.000 sales, the Peugeot 505 was the best selling true French car in the States in 1985.
The bottom of the ranking is full of interesting and obscure models like the Isuzu I-Mark, AMC Eagle, Mitsubishi Starion (also as Dodge and Plymouth Conquest), Renault Fuego, the Yugo, Subaru Brat, GMC Caballero and Alfa Romeo GTV-6.
Hyundai would start sales of its first model the Excel the next year and with over 168.800 sales it still holds the record of the highest first-year sales of any new brand in the United States.
| Model | 1985 | 2015 | Successor name | 2015 rank | |
| 1 | Ford F-series | 562.507 | 780.354 | 1 | |
| 2 | Chevrolet C/K | 436.910 | 600.544 | Chevrolet Silverado | 2 |
| 3 | Chevrolet Cavalier | 431.031 | 226.602 | Chevrolet Cruze | 17 |
| 4 | Ford Escort | 420.690 | 202.478 | Ford Focus | 23 |
| 5 | Chevrolet Celebrity | 363.619 | 194.854 | Chevrolet Malibu | 25 |
| 6 | Oldsmobile Ciera | 333.585 | 0 | – | |
| 7 | Toyota SR5 (Hilux) | 291.442 | 179.562 | Toyota Tacoma | 27 |
| 8 | Ford Tempo | 281.144 | – | Ford Focus | – |
| 9 | Honda Accord | 268.420 | 355.557 | 6 | |
| 10 | Nissan Pickup | 255.601 | 62.817 | Nissan Frontier | 82 |
| 11 | Ford Ranger | 247.042 | 0 | – | |
| 12 | Chevrolet Caprice | 245.826 | 1.845 | 249 | |
| 13 | Buick Century | 234.508 | 19.504 | Buick Regal | 157 |
| 14 | Nissan Sentra | 219.024 | 203.509 | 21 | |
| 15 | Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme | 217.504 | 0 | – | |
| 16 | Chevrolet S-10 | 210.051 | 84.430 | Chevrolet Colorado | 64 |
| 17 | Chevrolet Camaro | 199.985 | 77.502 | 68 | |
| 18 | Oldsmobile 88 | 188.129 | 0 | – | |
| 19 | Chevrolet S-10 Blazer | 187.234 | 0 | – | |
| 20 | Ford LTD | 185.014 | 300.170 | Ford Fusion | 12 |
| 21 | Ford Econoline | 182.079 | 117.577 | Ford Transit | 46 |
| 22 | Toyota Corolla / Matrix | 168.378 | 363.332 | 5 | |
| 23 | Pontiac 6000 | 165.728 | 0 | – | |
| 24 | Ford Crown Victoria | 162.334 | 0 | – | |
| 25 | Dodge Ram | 160.574 | 451.116 | RAM Pickup | 3 |
| 26 | Ford Mustang | 157.821 | 122.439 | 41 | |
| 27 | Ford Thunderbird | 157.209 | 0 | – | |
| 28 | Chevrolet Cargo Van | 150.868 | 63.382 | Chevrolet Express | 79 |
| 29 | Honda Civic / Del Sol | 150.545 | 335.384 | 8 | |
| 30 | Buick Skylark | 149.611 | 31.889 | Buick Verano | – |
| 31 | Cadillac Deville | 146.395 | 23.112 | Cadillac XTS | 145 |
| 32 | Subaru Wagon | 145.989 | 60.447 | Subaru Legacy | 86 |
| 33 | Plymouth Reliant | 138.833 | 0 | – | |
| 34 | Dodge Caravan | 136.335 | 97.141 | 55 | |
| 35 | Mercury Grand Marquis | 135.202 | 0 | – | |
| 36 | Chevrolet Chevette | 129.927 | 64.775 | Chevrolet Sonic | 75 |
| 37 | Toyota Camry | 128.132 | 429.355 | 4 | |
| 38 | Oldsmobile Calais | 122.810 | 0 | – | |
| 39 | Oldsmobile 98 | 122.421 | 0 | – | |
| 40 | GMC C/K Sierra | 121.434 | 224.139 | 18 | |
| 41 | Pontiac Grand Am | 121.273 | 0 | – | |
| 42 | Mercury Cougar | 119.225 | 0 | – | |
| 43 | Lincoln Town Car | 117.606 | 0 | – | |
| 44 | Pontiac Sunbird | 116.837 | 0 | – | |
| 45 | Dodge Aries | 116.284 | 0 | – | |
| 46 | Mazda B-Series | 115.788 | 0 | – | |
| 47 | Buick LeSabre | 115.212 | 0 | – | |
| 48 | Buick Regal | 112.590 | 42.035 | Buick LaCrosse | 107 |
| 49 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 112.585 | 0 | – | |
| 50 | Chrysler Fifth Avenue | 109.010 | 177.889 | Chrysler 200 | 28 |
| 51 | Plymouth Voyager | 106.492 | 93.848 | Chrysler Town & Country | 59 |
| 52 | Chevrolet Astro | 106.157 | 0 | – | |
| 53 | Ford Bronco II | 104.934 | 0 | – | |
| 54 | Pontiac Firebird | 100.160 | 0 | – | |
| 55 | Buick Electra | 99.185 | 0 | – | |
| 56 | Nissan Maxima | 99.051 | 40.359 | 111 | |
| 57 | Jeep Cherokee | 98.877 | 220.260 | 19 | |
| 58 | Mazda 626 | 92.839 | 57.898 | Mazda6 | 89 |
| 59 | Pontiac Fiero | 90.303 | 0 | – | |
| 60 | Toyota Tercel | 88.841 | 16.779 | Toyota Yaris | 169 |
| 61 | Mercury Marquis | 87.844 | 0 | – | |
| 62 | Chrysler Lebaron Sedan | 87.482 | – | Chrysler 200 | – |
| 63 | Buick Skyhawk | 85.639 | 0 | – | |
| 64 | Plymouth Horizon | 84.500 | 0 | – | |
| 65 | Volkswagen Jetta | 82.883 | 131.109 | 38 | |
| 66 | Toyota Celica | 80.480 | 10.507 | Scion FR-S | 193 |
| 67 | Volkswagen Golf | 77.699 | 65.308 | 73 | |
| 68 | Mercury Lynx | 76.871 | 0 | – | |
| 69 | Honda Prelude | 75.938 | 0 | – | |
| 70 | Mercury Topaz | 73.098 | 0 | – | |
| 71 | AMC Alliance | 71.501 | 0 | – | |
| 72 | Dodge Omni | 71.473 | 87.392 | Dodge Dart | 62 |
| 73 | Chrysler Lebaron GTS | 71.018 | – | Chrysler 200 | – |
| 74 | Dodge Ram 50 | 70.317 | 0 | – | |
| 75 | Pontiac Safari | 69.049 | 0 | – | |
| 76 | Nissan 300ZX | 67.409 | 1.105 | Nissan GT-R | 255 |
| 77 | Nissan 240SX | 65.792 | 7.391 | Nissan 370Z | 210 |
| 78 | Mazda 323 | 64.444 | 107.885 | Mazda3 | 51 |
| 79 | Nissan Stanza | 64.398 | 333.398 | Nissan Altima | 9 |
| 80 | Dodge Ram Van | 63.250 | 28.345 | RAM ProMaster | 130 |
| 81 | Chevrolet Suburban | 58.906 | 50.866 | 97 | |
| 82 | Cadillac Eldorado | 58.310 | 0 | – | |
| 83 | Toyota Van | 57.735 | 0 | – | |
| 84 | Honda Civic CRX | 57.486 | 3.073 | Honda CR-Z | 239 |
| 85 | Dodge Charger | 57.171 | – | Dodge Dart | – |
| 86 | Pontiac Grand Prix | 57.153 | 0 | – | |
| 87 | Chrysler New Yorker | 56.166 | 53.109 | Chrysler 300 | 92 |
| 88 | Chevrolet Spectrum | 54.293 | 0 | – | |
| 89 | BMW 3-Series | 53.927 | 140.609 | 35 | |
| 90 | Mazda RX-7 | 53.810 | 0 | – | |
| 91 | Pontiac Bonneville | 52.972 | 0 | – | |
| 92 | Volvo 200-Series | 52.851 | 24.124 | Volvo 60-series | – |
| 93 | Plymouth Turismo | 52.817 | 0 | – | |
| 94 | Isuzu Pickup | 52.305 | 0 | – | |
| 95 | Ford Bronco | 52.281 | 0 | – | |
| 96 | Chrysler Laser | 50.957 | 0 | – | |
| 97 | Nissan Pulsar NX | 49.816 | 0 | – | |
| 98 | Dodge Lancer | 49.615 | – | Dodge Dart | – |
| 99 | Oldsmobile Firenza | 49.580 | 0 | – | |
| 100 | Dodge Daytona | 49.533 | 0 | – | |
| 101 | Volvo 700-Series | 49.454 | 1.887 | Volvo S80 | 248 |
| 102 | Buick Riviera | 48.834 | 0 | – | |
| 103 | Audi 5000 | 47.766 | 22.850 | Audi A6 | 146 |
| 104 | GMC S-15 Sonoma | 46.953 | 30.077 | GMC Canyon | 127 |
| 105 | Chevrolet Tahoe | 46.298 | 88.342 | 61 | |
| 106 | Toyota Cressida | 45.290 | – | Toyota Camry | – |
| 107 | Chevrolet Citation | 43.677 | – | Chevrolet Cruze | – |
| 108 | GMC S-15 Jimmy | 42.239 | 112.030 | GMC Terrain | 49 |
| 109 | Cadillac Brougham | 41.269 | – | Cadillac XTS | – |
| 110 | GMC Vandura | 40.607 | 21.992 | GMC Savana | 149 |
| 111 | Dodge Ram Wagon | 40.095 | – | RAM ProMaster | – |
| 112 | Dodge Colt | 39.724 | 0 | – | |
| 113 | AMC Encore | 39.172 | 0 | – | |
| 114 | Chevrolet Corvette | 37.956 | 33.329 | 118 | |
| 115 | Jeep CJ | 37.956 | 202.702 | Jeep Wrangler | 22 |
| 116 | Saab 900 | 37.448 | 0 | – | |
| 117 | Plymouth Colt | 36.491 | 0 | – | |
| 118 | Plymouth Caravelle | 35.954 | 0 | – | |
| 119 | Chevrolet Nova | 35.594 | – | Chevrolet Sonic | – |
| 120 | Dodge Diplomat | 34.919 | 0 | – | |
| 121 | Toyota MR2 | 32.309 | 0 | – | |
| 122 | Oldsmobile Toronado | 32.093 | 0 | – | |
| 123 | Ford Club Wagon | 31.575 | – | Ford Transit | – |
| 124 | Dodge 600 | 30.758 | 0 | – | |
| 125 | Chevrolet Metro | 30.567 | – | Chevrolet Sonic | – |
| 126 | Ford Aerostar | 30.324 | 0 | – | |
| 127 | Dodge Ramcharger | 29.325 | 64.186 | Dodge Durango | 77 |
| 128 | Cadillac Seville | 29.034 | 19.485 | Cadillac CTS | 158 |
| 129 | Lincoln Continental | 27.679 | 30.901 | Lincoln MKZ | 126 |
| 130 | Mercedes-Benz S-Class | 27.129 | 21.934 | 150 | |
| 131 | Isuzu Trooper II | 25.844 | 0 | – | |
| 132 | Mercedes-Benz 190 | 25.453 | 86.080 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 63 |
| 133 | GMC Safari | 24.892 | 0 | – | |
| 134 | Dodge 400 | 24.572 | – | Dodge Dart | – |
| 135 | Mitsubishi Mighty Max | 24.032 | 0 | – | |
| 136 | Cadillac Cimarron | 23.754 | 26.873 | Cadillac ATS | 133 |
| 137 | Mercedes-Benz E-Class | 23.714 | 49.736 | 99 | |
| 138 | Toyota Supra | 23.569 | 9 | Lexus LFA | 277 |
| 139 | Pontiac T1000 | 22.424 | 0 | – | |
| 140 | Audi 4000 | 22.246 | 31.831 | Audi A4 | 123 |
| 141 | Chevrolet El Camino | 21.816 | 0 | – | |
| 142 | Chevrolet Sportvan | 21.005 | 0 | – | |
| 143 | BMW 5-series | 20.168 | 44.162 | 103 | |
| 144 | Lincoln Mark VII | 19.853 | – | Lincoln MKZ | – |
| 145 | Toyota 4Runner | 18.878 | 97.034 | 56 | |
| 146 | Ford EXP | 17.927 | 0 | – | |
| 147 | GMC Suburban | 17.888 | 31.334 | GMC Yukon XL | 125 |
| 148 | Plymouth Gran Fury | 17.627 | 0 | – | |
| 149 | Jeep Grand Wagoneer | 17.509 | 0 | – | |
| 150 | Porsche 944 | 16.834 | 3.561 | Porsche Cayman | 236 |
| 151 | Jaguar XJ | 16.744 | 3.611 | 235 | |
| 152 | Volkswagen Vanagon | 16.296 | 0 | – | |
| 153 | Mercury Capri | 15.389 | 0 | – | |
| 154 | Peugeot 505 | 15.284 | 0 | – | |
| 155 | Isuzu Impulse | 14.173 | 0 | – | |
| 156 | Jeep Wagoneer | 14.102 | 0 | – | |
| 157 | Volkswagen Quantum | 13.865 | 78.207 | Volkswagen Passat | 67 |
| 158 | Volkswagen Scirocco | 13.528 | 0 | – | |
| 159 | Subaru XT | 13.283 | 5.296 | Subaru BRZ | 223 |
| 160 | Mitsubishi Mirage | 13.066 | 21.515 | 152 | |
| 161 | Mitsubishi Sigma | 12.766 | 0 | – | |
| 162 | Isuzu I-Mark | 12.761 | 0 | – | |
| 163 | AMC Eagle | 12.740 | 0 | – | |
| 164 | Volkswagen Cabriolet | 12.564 | 2.993 | Volkswagen Eos | 240 |
| 165 | Dodge Vista | 12.023 | 0 | – | |
| 166 | Plymouth Vista | 11.588 | 0 | – | |
| 167 | Mitsubishi Tredia | 10.902 | 0 | – | |
| 168 | Subaru Sedan | 10.823 | 100.519 | Subaru Impreza | 54 |
| 169 | Mercedes-Benz SL | 10.604 | 4.060 | 232 | |
| 170 | BMW 7-series | 9.935 | 9.292 | 197 | |
| 171 | Jeep Comanche | 9.557 | 0 | – | |
| 172 | GMC K5 Jimmy / Yukon | 9.094 | 42.732 | GMC Yukon | 106 |
| 173 | Merkur XR4 | 8.974 | 0 | – | |
| 174 | Mitsubishi Cordia | 8.159 | 0 | – | |
| 175 | Porsche 911 | 5.890 | 9.858 | 195 | |
| 176 | Mitsubishi Starion | 4.841 | 0 | – | |
| 177 | Toyota Land Cruiser 100 | 4.740 | 2.687 | 242 | |
| 178 | Renault Fuego | 4.731 | 0 | – | |
| 179 | Subaru Brat | 4.075 | 0 | – | |
| 180 | Ford Taurus | 4.056 | 48.816 | 100 | |
| 181 | Subaru Hatchback | 4.004 | 88.927 | Subaru XV Crosstrek | 60 |
| 182 | Yugo | 3.895 | 0 | – | |
| 183 | BMW 6-series | 3.825 | 8.146 | 203 | |
| 184 | Jaguar XJS | 3.784 | 4.629 | Jaguar F-Type | 229 |
| 185 | Audi Coupe | 3.611 | 1.167 | Audi TT | 254 |
| 186 | Alfa Romeo Spider | 3.450 | 663 | Alfa Romeo 4C | 260 |
| 187 | Dodge Conquest | 2.716 | 66.365 | Dodge Challenger | 72 |
| 188 | Mitsubishi Montero | 2.707 | 0 | – | |
| 189 | Plymouth Conquest | 2.671 | – | Dodge Challenger | – |
| 190 | Suzuki Samurai | 2.646 | 0 | – | |
| 191 | GMC Caballero | 2.605 | 0 | – | |
| 192 | Porsche 928 | 2.582 | 4.985 | Porsche Panamera | 227 |
| 193 | Renault 18i | 2.474 | 0 | – | |
| 194 | Mercury Sable | 2.430 | 0 | – | |
| 195 | Jeep Pickup | 1.974 | 0 | – | |
| 196 | Jeep Scrambler | 1.414 | 0 | – | |
| 197 | Chrysler E-Class | 1.247 | – | Chrysler 200 | – |
| 198 | Alfa Romeo GTV-6 | 1.052 | 0 | Alfa Romeo 4C | – |
| 199 | Pontiac Phoenix | 896 | 0 | – | |
| 200 | Saab 9000 | 795 | 0 | – | |
| 201 | Audi Quattro | 71 | 0 | – |
Source: BSCB