2022 Full-Size SUV Sales Report: GM Still Dominates While the Jeep Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer Picks Up Steam

Jeep's large SUVs enjoyed a solid first year of sales, but it wasn't a pretty picture for everyone

2023 Jeep Grand Wagoneer - Full-size SUV sales report
(Image: Stellantis)

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.

2023 Ford Expedition Stealth Edition Performance Package
(Image: Ford)

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

ModelFull-year 2022 salesFull-year 2021 salesChange (%)
Chevrolet Tahoe105,756106,030-0.3%
GMC Yukon82,30484,242-2.3%
Ford Expedition62,00781,988-24.4%
Dodge Durango55,43365,935-16.0%
Chevrolet Suburban50,95148,214+5.7%
Cadillac Escalade40,24740,505-0.6%
Jeep Wagoneer36,2195,349+577.1%
Lincoln Navigator13,20615,631-15.5%
Nissan Armada11,92322,814-47.7%
Jeep Grand Wagoneer11,7362,675+338.7%
Infiniti QX807,20612,572-42.7%
Toyota Sequoia5,3148,070-34.2%
Lexus LX3,6423,563+2.2%
Toyota Land Cruiser483,711-98.7%
TOTAL FULL-SIZE SUV SALES485,992501,299-3.0%

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

Model2022 sales2021 salesChange (%)2022 Market Share
GM SUVs279,258278,991+0.01%57.5%
Ford SUVs75,21397,619-23.0%15.5%
Stellantis SUVs103,38873,959+39.8%21.3%
Nissan SUVs19,12935,386-45.9%3.9%
Toyota SUVs9,00415,344-41.3%1.8%

Check out more sales reports, including full-size trucks and midsize/small trucks, right here on TFLtruck.com: