(Bloomberg) – With sport utility vehicles taking over American roads, passenger cars are in rapid decline. Sales of sedans, coupes and sports cars are on pace for their worst year since 2009, the year when industrywide new-vehicle deliveries plunged to a three-decade low and GM and Chrysler went through bankruptcy.

SUVs on track for record high

SUVs first supplanted cars in 2016 and are on track to reach a record 8.3 million this year. SUVs first supplanted cars in 2016 and are on track to reach a record 8.3 million this year. (Photo: Bloomberg)

U.S. passenger car sales fell to a low of 5.4 million in 2009 before bouncing back to 7.6 million by 2014, according to data from Erich Merkle, Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales analyst. Since then, though, deliveries have dropped back to 6.1 million in 2017 and are on pace this year to finish around 5.4 million again. SUVs first supplanted cars in 2016 and are on track to reach a record 8.3 million this year.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Agency Management
Auto
Corporate Risk
Coverage & Policy Issues
Personal Lines
Personal Lines
Sales & Marketing