The Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the United States for over 40 years, and it’s thanks to statistics like this that make auto manufacturers strive so hard for customer loyalty. Ford is clearly doing something right with its F-series for it to be continuously on top, but what other vehicles are close behind? If we look at the best-selling vehicles by state, it’s still clear that the F-150 wins, but not everywhere. Let’s take a look at what other vehicles are in the running.

Best-selling vehicles by state

The Ford F-Series topped the best-selling chart in 2019 in 31 states, but other vehicles took the top spot in 19 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Interestingly, only California’s and Florida’s top-selling vehicles were not an SUV or a pickup truck. Research has shown that consumers have been gravitating toward trucks and SUVs more than sedans over the past decade, and this data confirms that. California’s top vehicle was the Honda Civic and Florida’s was the Toyota Corolla.

Other pickup trucks to make the list was the Ram 1500/2500/3500, which topped out in Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Arkansas, and Alaska, and came in second place overall to the F-150, and the Toyota Tacoma, which was interestingly the most popular vehicle in the islands – Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The Chevrolet Silverado also came out on top in Minnesota and Iowa, which was in stark contrast to the rest of the majority of the Midwest, where the F-150 clearly reigned.

SUVs are having a moment

Apart from trucks, consumers are turning more and more to SUVs as their daily vehicles, and the sales figures prove that. SUVs were the most popular vehicles in nine states plus Washington, D.C. Popular models were the Honda CR-V, which came out on top in Virginia, Delaware, and Connecticut, and the Toyota RAV4, which was the best-selling vehicle in Washington, Maryland, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.

Many people took to Reddit to discuss this information and one of the most surprising takeaways seemed to be that the best-selling vehicle in New York was the Nissan Rogue. The Rogue has never been one of the top-rated SUVs, so many people wondered why it topped the NY sales. Guesses as to why it came out on top mainly centered around the fact that it’s an affordable vehicle and that Nissan is more generous with their financing options.

How does the Ford F-150 keep coming out on top?

Ford is definitely doing something right with the F-Series for it to be consistently the best-selling vehicle for over four decades. Why is that? For one, the F-150 ranks highly in ruggedness and dependability. According to spokespeople from Ford, there are more F-150s on the road today with over 250,000 miles on them than any other vehicle. That’s all thanks to the amount of testing that goes into the F-series to make sure it’s in the best possible shape before each model hits the sales lot.

Another thing Ford does well with the F-150 is how they maintain enough power while continuously increasing its fuel efficiency. They’ve modeled the latest generations with military-grade aluminum alloys, allowing for trucks with less overall weight. Combined with their EcoBoost engine, most F-Series pickups can get a combined 22 MPG city/highway, while still generating more than enough horsepower and torque for just about any job.

Time will tell if consumers will continue to make the Ford F-150 the best-selling vehicle in the U.S., but we’re sure Ford will keep making it a priority to innovate and upgrade it to keep people coming back for more.