To say large, family hauling full-size SUVs are a mainstay in the yearly sales reports is an equally massive understatement. In 2022, nearly half a million of you bought one, and it was a similar story the year before. As we pore over the latest annual sales reports, there are a few key takeaways from this particular segment. Full-size SUVs are still remarkably strong sellers, and certain new players may shake things up as we charge into 2023.
If the headline and the image above didn’t already give the game away, I’m talking about the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Finally, after decades away from the full-size, body-on-frame SUV market, Jeep’s iconic nameplate is back — and nearly 50,000 buyers took the plunge.
Among the Big Three, however, General Motors still utterly dominates this market with its Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac offerings. Last year, sales of the Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon and Escalade amounted to 57.5% of the entire full-size SUV market. While the market as a whole dropped by roughly 8% in 2022, GM’s big SUV sales held virtually steady. In fact, GM dealers moved just 267 more SUVs in 2022 than they did in 2021.
Not the explosive sort of growth we see with the Wagoneer, but at least General Motors can tout its strong market position. The same cannot be said for Ford, unfortunately, as both the Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator lost significant ground over the year. Both SUVs did see some thoughtful updates, but the efforts evidently did not translate to a boost in sales.
Looking back at all of 2022, the Blue Oval’s dealers shifted 75,213 full-size SUVs (again, between the Ford and Lincoln brands), or 23% fewer than they managed in 2021.
Both Nissan and Toyota lost full-size SUV market share last year.
Despite some recent updates, though, more people eschewed Nissan and Infiniti’s full-size SUVs. Armada sales fell by a staggering 47.7% in 2022, while its more luxurious QX80 counterpart didn’t fare much better. The Infiniti, for its part, dropped 42.7% last year from 2021 — and 2021 was also a downward year for the QX80. It’s difficult to speculate among all the reasons prospective buyers are avoiding these full-size siblings. One major factor could be that, even with the updates, these two are the most old-school, and offer the least in terms of powertrain options and cutting-edge technology of the dozen or so players currently on the market.
Two SUVs that did get substantial updates in the past year are the Lexus LX 600 — the de facto Land Cruiser since Toyota pulled the 300 Series away from the U.S. market (though we may get some consolation in the future) — and the new Sequoia. The generational changes appear to be working in Lexus’ case, as sales picked up slightly.
As for the new, hybrid-only Sequoia, Toyota’s summer launch timing was likely too late to make a huge impact on the 2022 sales figures. We’ll have to keep an eye on the 2023 quarterly sales figures and see if the full-size SUV gets a bump, much like the Tundra did after its comprehensive redesign.
U.S. Full-size SUV sales: Full-year 2022
| Model | Full-year 2022 sales | Full-year 2021 sales | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Tahoe | 105,756 | 106,030 | -0.3% |
| GMC Yukon | 82,304 | 84,242 | -2.3% |
| Ford Expedition | 62,007 | 81,988 | -24.4% |
| Dodge Durango | 55,433 | 65,935 | -16.0% |
| Chevrolet Suburban | 50,951 | 48,214 | +5.7% |
| Cadillac Escalade | 40,247 | 40,505 | -0.6% |
| Jeep Wagoneer | 36,219 | 5,349 | +577.1% |
| Lincoln Navigator | 13,206 | 15,631 | -15.5% |
| Nissan Armada | 11,923 | 22,814 | -47.7% |
| Jeep Grand Wagoneer | 11,736 | 2,675 | +338.7% |
| Infiniti QX80 | 7,206 | 12,572 | -42.7% |
| Toyota Sequoia | 5,314 | 8,070 | -34.2% |
| Lexus LX | 3,642 | 3,563 | +2.2% |
| Toyota Land Cruiser | 48 | 3,711 | -98.7% |
| TOTAL FULL-SIZE SUV SALES | 485,992 | 501,299 | -3.0% |
See below how each automaker performed as a whole in 2022. For reference, here’s what models comprise each automaker’s company-wide sales figures:
GM SUVs: Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade.
Ford SUVs: Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
Stellantis SUVs: Dodge Durango, Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer.
Nissan SUVs: Nissan Armada and Infiniti QX80.
Toyota SUVs: Toyota Sequoia, Land Cruiser and Lexus LX.
U.S. Combined Full-size SUV Sales (by automaker): Full-year 2022
| Model | 2022 sales | 2021 sales | Change (%) | 2022 Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM SUVs | 279,258 | 278,991 | +0.01% | 57.5% |
| Ford SUVs | 75,213 | 97,619 | -23.0% | 15.5% |
| Stellantis SUVs | 103,388 | 73,959 | +39.8% | 21.3% |
| Nissan SUVs | 19,129 | 35,386 | -45.9% | 3.9% |
| Toyota SUVs | 9,004 | 15,344 | -41.3% | 1.8% |
Check out more sales reports, including full-size trucks and midsize/small trucks, right here on TFLtruck.com:
