One Image That Shows How Crossovers Are In For Families and How Cars Are Out

It is April school vacation week in America and spring has sprung. Parents and kids are out enjoying the playgrounds and we happened to drive by one this week in Metro West Boston. The image we grabbed of the parking lot clearly illustrates just how dramatically crossovers now dominate as the family vehicle.

As you can see in the image, the parking lot is full of crossovers. Almost every brand has a crossover represented here. Mazda, Toyota, Subaru, Ford, GMC, Honda, Jeep, Audi, and Lexus. Tell us in the comments below if you see any that we missed. Other vehicle types include a couple GM SUVs, one pickup truck, and a lonely Toyota Camry. Aside from these few outliers, every family at that playground came in a crossover.

In December of 2015, in its monthly sales report General Motors noted that "Industry-wide, crossovers now account for 40 percent of the retail industry, up from 37 percent a year ago.” It was at that point in time that compact crossovers began to overtake pickup trucks as the largest individual automobile segment. Yes, the Ford F-150 and the Chevy Silverado are still the number one and two nameplates sold in America, but overall, trucks are not keeping up with the growth of crossovers.

As we recently reported, only the Toyota Camry is still doing well among midsize affordable sedans, the prior segment that most Americans not in a truck used as their primary family vehicle.

The Accord, Fusion, and Malibu, are all down by double digits. The Hyundai Sonata sedan is down 37%. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the trend. Perhaps it is most clearly illustrated by the Nissan Rogue crossover's 14% increase in sales and the Nissan Altima's 14% decline in sales.

Cars still sell in huge numbers, and trucks are doing extremely well. However, drive by any playground and take a quick peek to see how the country as a whole is trending when it comes to family vehicle choices.