Why foreign automakers dominate the sedan market

The biggest American automakers all but abandoned sedans and coupes in recent years as they rushed to compete in the pickup truck and SUV markets.

Many domestic buyers also shifted toward those bigger vehicles. Still, there’s a market for cars, as Japanese, Korean and German brands sell hundreds of thousands of smaller passenger vehicles in the U.S. annually.

The resilience of the sedan market and concerns that high prices are driving away customers have led some American automakers to reconsider their lineups.

With the average price for a vehicle hovering around $50,000, a compact sedan that starts at about $22,000 is an attractive entry point for buyers, industry experts said. 

“It’s all about affordability,” said Orth Hedrick, vice president of product planning for Kia USA. Kia’s K4 compact sedan and its predecessor, the Kia Forte, together were the brand’s second-bestselling vehicle last year, accounting for 140,514 units sold. “It’s just been doing phenomenally well for us. Way over plan, and a lot of it is affordability.”

Similarly, the RAV4 crossover SUV is Toyota’s bestseller, reaching 479,288 units sold in 2025. The automaker also moved 316,000 Camrys and nearly 250,000 Corollas last year, or 65% and 51% of the SUV’s sales, respectively.

“There is opportunity for sedans to offer an alternative to the sea of SUVs, and they are typically less expensive than an SUV in the same size class,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director, AutoIntelligence, for S&P Global Mobility. “Sedans do offer more opportunity for compelling design and they are typically more fuel efficient than utility vehicles.”

Industry watchers, dealers and automaker executives have publicly expressed concerns that high vehicle prices and rising fuel costs could cause buyers to pull back or increasingly turn to used cars.

Indeed, Volkswagen said it has kept its Jetta sedan in its lineup for 45 years in the U.S. as an affordable entry point. The brand showed off a newly refreshed version of its full-size Atlas SUV at the New York International Auto Show in early April. But it also had its compact car, Jetta — and two higher-trim versions of the Golf hatchback — on the show floor as well.

“Jetta is one of our most important nameplates,” said Petar Danilovic, senior vice president of North American product marketing for Volkswagen. “Every car has a different role in the portfolio. And the Jetta, for example, is of course important to also attract entry customers. So hopefully to be able to grow them in the brand from a Jetta maybe to a Tiguan to an Atlas. So this is also the logic behind it.”

“Affordable options are essential for bringing newer and younger buyers into a brand,” said Rebecca Lindland, a managing director at Allison Worldwide. “Many Gen Z and younger Millennials simply can’t, or don’t want to, stretch to the typical SUV or crossover payment.”

SUVs have been growing in popularity for decades and shot up in popularity in the 2010s, while sales of smaller cars shrank. Sedans were almost 40% of the market in 2015, according to Edmunds. As of 2026, they were only 15%, according to the auto site. 

The SUV offered a lot of those buyers a change from the cars they were familiar with. Now, their rarity might be giving sedans the same effect.  

“A lot of it is this new generation that grew up in the back seat of an SUV,” Hedrick said. “They don’t want to drive an SUV. They like something different. So to them, a sedan is new. For the rest of us who grew up with sedans all the time, it’s old hat. But for new buyers, they like the look. They like the idea of doing something different.”

Despite their pullback, American automakers still make a few sedans and coupes. 

General Motors’ luxury brand Cadillac is discontinuing the CT4 sedan in 2026. The larger CT5 will leave the market temporarily, but will return, the company confirmed in an email.

GM also makes the high-end Corvette sports coupe. 

A report from Automotive News, citing an anonymous source, said GM is planning to build a Buick sedan in a Michigan plant. GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly told CNBC in an email the company does not comment on product plans.

“We don’t see sedans recovering a decade-old heyday,” Brinley said, “but getting back into the segment may be a good move for GM and others considering the opportunity.” 

Ford’s only traditional silhouette is the Ford Mustang, which many insiders — including CEO Jim Farley — have called the “soul of the company,” despite the fact that the F-150 pickup truck is its biggest seller by far and the Mustang is outsold by most of Ford’s SUVs. Still, it’s the best-selling coupe in the U.S. as of April 2026, according to Edmunds.

Farley said at the Detroit Auto Show that the company would “never say never” to bringing back more traditional passenger cars.

Stellantis‘ Dodge currently makes the Charger sedan in two- and four-door configurations. 

The best-selling sedan by an American automaker is the Tesla Model 3, according to Edmunds. It’s the only sedan Tesla makes now that it has discontinued the full-sized Model S.

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors also makes the high-end Lucid Air sedan, but is planning a midsize SUV for its next product.

Others say they aren’t giving up on the segment.

“Obviously, the industry has moved towards SUVs and light trucks away from passenger cars,” Dave Christ, group vice president and general manager at Toyota Motor North America, said. “But we still believe in passenger cars, so we’re going to continue to invest in passenger cars. Even if the industry is 20% passenger cars, that’s over 3 million cars a year.”