How America’s Favorite Cars Change, From Boomers to Zoomers

The vehicle that’s right for someone can change when life changes, whether it’s a move, a different commute, or a new kid. But each generation’s vehicle preferences reflect more than just a different stage of life.

Each generation’s favorite brand is an American automaker, according to Compare.com data. But while Ford and Chevrolet models top the list of baby boomers’ and Gen X’s most popular vehicles, millennials and Gen Z prefer smaller cars from foreign automakers like Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.

In fact, overall vehicle size shrinks from baby boomers’ to Gen Z’s most popular vehicles.

Many baby boomers may remain loyal to the American-made cars they grew up with, in an era when bigger families needed a vehicle that could fit everyone. Factors like housing affordability, student debt, and higher gas prices are shaping Gen Z’s needs, leading some to delay starting a family and many to seek out the most fuel-efficient vehicles available. New drivers also entered a more diverse auto market and may have less brand loyalty.

Each generation values something different in their vehicles, and key shifts could shed light on what future generations will want from their cars.

Key Findings

• Five vehicles, the Ford F-Series Pickup, Chevrolet Silverado, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla, and Honda Accord, rank among the top 10 most popular models across all generations.

• Gen Z favors sedans and smaller, compact cars over trucks and SUVs. The Honda Civic is the most owned vehicle among Gen Z, with 4.2% driving it, followed closely by the Honda Accord.

• The vehicle millennials love more than any other is the Kia Carnival, a three-row minivan with a price tag under $40,000. Millennial drivers are 70% more likely to drive a Carnival than the average driver.

• Baby boomers prefer trucks and SUVs: The most-owned vehicle among them is the Ford F-Series Pickup, with 4.1% of boomers driving it.

• Chevrolet is the most popular automaker among all generations except baby boomers, where it ranks second to Ford.

• Gen Z drivers pay the highest auto insurance premiums, at $3,115 annually for full coverage. Rates go down for older generations: The average annual cost of auto insurance is $2,340 for millennials, $2,083 for Gen X, and $1,859 for boomers, according to Compare.com data.

Older Generations Prefer Bigger Trucks and SUVs, While Gen Z Favors Sedans

Five of the same vehicles — two trucks and three sedans — make each generation’s top 10 most popular models list. But the model makeup and vehicle ranks change dramatically between generations.

Generational vehicle preferences shift toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles among younger age cohorts. Baby boomers’ most popular vehicles include larger cars — five SUVs and two trucks. Though every generation has the Ford F-Series Pickup and Chevrolet Silverado in its top 10, the trucks’ rankings drop among younger generations, and each has steadily fewer SUVs in its top 10.

The F-Series Pickup and Silverado rank No. 1 and 2 for boomer and Gen X drivers, but they drop to No. 4 and 6 for millennial drivers and to No. 8 and 10 for Gen Z drivers. Boomers count five SUVs in their top 10, while Gen X has three, millennials have two, and Gen Z has none.

Gen Z’s top two vehicles are the Honda Civic and Accord, two sedans with starting prices under $30,000 for the 2026 model year. The Civic’s combined fuel economy is 31–36 mpg, which goes a lot farther than the Ford F-150’s 19–21 combined mpg. Gen Z drivers in urban areas may be attracted to the better gas mileage and smaller vehicle size — both helpful for city driving.

Popularity Ranking	Gen Z	Millennials	Gen X	Baby Boomers
1	Honda Civic	Honda Accord	Ford F-Series Pickup	Ford F-Series Pickup
2	Honda Accord	Toyota Camry	Chevrolet Silverado	Chevrolet Silverado
3	Toyota Camry	Nissan Altima	Toyota Camry	Toyota Camry
4	Nissan Altima	Ford F-Series Pickup	Honda Accord	Honda CR-V
5	Toyota Corolla	Honda Civic	Nissan Altima	Ford Escape
6	Hyundai Elantra	Chevrolet Silverado	Chevrolet Equinox	Chevrolet Equinox
7	Chevrolet Malibu	Toyota Corolla	Toyota Corolla	Honda Accord
8	Ford F-Series Pickup	Chevrolet Malibu	Honda Civic	Toyota RAV4
9	Nissan Sentra	Chevrolet Equinox	Ford Escape	Nissan Rogue
10	Chevrolet Silverado	Jeep Grand Cherokee	Nissan Rogue	Toyota Corolla

Boomers Love Ford Most — For Everyone Else, Chevrolet Tops the List

Drivers of all ages mostly prefer the same nine automakers, but they don’t seem to heavily favor foreign or American cars much over the others. Though in slightly different orders, boomer, Gen X, and millennial drivers have the same top 10 vehicle brands, according to Compare.com data. Their top American car brands are Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Jeep, and GMC, and their top foreign brands are Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, and Kia.

Gen Z slightly favors foreign automakers, but its top four are pretty evenly split. Among Gen Z, 11.5% drive a Chevrolet, 11.1% drive a Honda, 10.7% drive a Toyota, and 10.7% drive a Ford. BMW makes Gen Z’s top 10 most popular brands, with 2.8% of Gen Z driving one, kicking GMC out of the top 10.

The German automaker has several compact, performance-oriented vehicles at a lower price point, like the BMW 230i Coupe, which starts at $42,200. BMW was also a top vehicle for millennial and Gen X drivers — it just came in at No. 11.

Brand Popularity Ranking	Gen Z	Millennials	Gen X	Baby Boomers
1	Chevrolet	Chevrolet	Chevrolet	Ford
2	Honda	Ford	Ford	Chevrolet
3	Toyota	Toyota	Toyota	Toyota
4	Ford	Honda	Nissan	Nissan
5	Nissan	Nissan	Honda	Honda
6	Hyundai	Dodge	Dodge	Hyundai
7	Kia	Hyundai	Jeep	Kia
8	Dodge	Kia	Hyundai	Dodge
9	Jeep	Jeep	Kia	Jeep
10	BMW	GMC	GMC	GMC

In 25 states, Chevrolet is the most popular vehicle make among Gen Z

Gen Z drivers in America’s heartland love an American car. Chevrolet is the most popular automaker among Gen Z drivers in 25 states, and 17 of those states aren’t coastal, according to Compare.com data. Gen Z drivers on the coasts favor foreign automakers: Honda on the East Coast and Toyota on the West Coast. And while the Chevrolet Silverado is Gen Z’s 10th-most-driven vehicle, the Honda Civic, Accord, and Toyota Camry top the list.

Millennials prefer Chevrolet in 33 states

Millennials also prefer Chevrolet in most states, especially drivers in the South and Midwest. Millennial drivers have three Chevrolet models among their top 10 most driven vehicles: the Silverado, Equinox, and Malibu. Each is a different vehicle type — a truck, SUV, and sedan — which seems to reflect millennials’ diverse vehicle needs.

Chevrolet is the top automaker among Gen X drivers in 29 states

Gen X drivers across the U.S. love an American car. Gen X prefers Chevrolet in 29 states, but Ford wins the top spot in 13 states, according to Compare.com data. The Ford F-Series Pickup is Gen X’s top vehicle, but they also love the Ford Escape, Chevrolet Silverado, and Chevrolet Equinox. In just nine states — all coastal — Gen X prefers foreign-made cars.

Boomer drivers prefer Ford vehicles in 22 states

Boomer drivers love Ford the most in 22 states, Chevrolet in 16 states, and Toyota in 13 states, according to Compare.com data. Their top three cars represent each brand: the Ford F-Series Pickup, Chevrolet Silverado, and Toyota Camry. Regional differences follow similar patterns to younger generations. States in the Midwest and South prefer American brands, Ford and Chevrolet, while Toyota dominates in the Northeast.

The Car Model Each Generation Loves More Than Any Other

The vehicle each generation favors most can provide insight into different drivers’ needs, priorities, and financial stability. Compare.com data scientists compared each generation’s ownership rate across different models with the national average for that car to identify the vehicles uniquely popular among that age group.

Gen Z’s signature car is the Toyota GR86, which, while relatively reasonably priced, is a sporty coupe made explicitly for driving enthusiasts. Gen Z drivers are 180% more likely to drive a GR86 than the average driver, according to Compare.com data. With rear-wheel drive, standard manual transmission, and a tiny backseat, the GR86 isn’t family-oriented, but it sure is fun. Though some Gen Z drivers are turning 30, many young people are choosing to have families later, which influences the kind of vehicle they need.

Millennials love a family-oriented car, which they’ve found in the Kia Carnival, an under-$40,000 three-row minivan. Many millennial drivers now have young children, and the Carnival is an affordable option made for carpooling. The Carnival also has a hybrid version that boosts fuel economy from 21 to 33 combined mpg. Millennials are 70% more likely to drive a Carnival than the average driver, according to Compare.com data.

Gen X’s signature vehicle is another large SUV. The luxury three-row Infiniti QX80 costs more than twice as much as the Carnival, but Gen X drivers are also in their highest-earning years. The median household income for those aged 45–64 is $100,055, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Gen X drivers are 72% more likely to drive a QX80 than the average driver, according to Compare.com data.

Boomer drivers are 141% more likely to drive a Mercedes-Benz SL-Class than the average driver. The SL-Class is the brand’s two-door luxury convertible, and it comes with a hefty six-figure price tag. Baby boomers’ uniquely beloved vehicle carries a message: The kids have moved out.

Generation	Car Model	Vehicle Type	Starting MSRP	Share vs. Overall
Gen Z	Toyota GR86	Compact coupe	$31,500	180%
Millennial	Kia Carnival	Three-row minivan	$37,490	70%
Gen X	Infiniti QX80	Large luxury SUV	$85,590	72%
Baby boomer	Mercedes-Benz SL-Class	Luxury sport convertible	$113,900	141%

Looking Ahead: Demand Could Shift to Smaller, Greener Vehicles

Eight out of 10 of Gen Z’s top vehicles are sedans, but as they start families, drivers may opt for SUVs. Lifestyle informs the right vehicle choice for any driver, so if family size or budget changes, it could shift need away from large, expensive SUVs and toward smaller, affordable sedans.

When the youngest boomers were coming of age in the late 1970s, the average number of lifetime births among U.S. women aged 40 –44 was 3.1, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2024, the number was 1.9, and an analysis found that Americans aged 20–39 planned to have an average of 1.8 children.

While baby boomers, Gen X, and some millennials may have shifted to a larger car when they had a family and now prefer it, it’s possible Gen Z drivers won’t follow that pattern. A high cost of living and smaller family size could mean Gen Z’s preference for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles will persist as they age.

Methodology

Compare.com data scientists reviewed more than 58 million rates using our proprietary database, quoted via integrations with partner insurance companies. Insurance applications come from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and include the precise coverage specifications in each policy quote drivers see. Analysts base “most-owned” or “most-driven” by generation on quotes submitted through Compare.com.

The full-coverage car insurance premiums in this report reflect the median cost of insurance for drivers ages 20 to 70. Annual prices use two-year rolling medians to mitigate market volatility in recent years. Full-coverage premiums represent policies with bodily injury limits between state minimum requirements of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident; property damage coverage between $10,000 and $50,000; and comprehensive and collision coverage with a $1,000 deductible.

Compare.com used the Pew Research Center definition of each generation:

• Gen Z: 1997–2012 (ages 13–29)

• Millennial: 1981–1996 (ages 29–45)

• Gen X: 1965–1980 (ages 45–61)

• Boomers: 1946–1964 (ages 61–80)