Light vehicle sales by fuel type in the U.S. 2021

Light trucks with a gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine (ICE) were the most popular type of light vehicle in the United States. Here, gasoline ICE light trucks had an estimated market share of about 56 percent in 2021.

The current state of the U.S. market

In January 2021, light trucks represented over 77 percent of the vehicle sales in the United States, making it the best-selling vehicle type in the country. A year earlier, in 2021, light vehicle retail sales rapidly rose to over 14.9 million units. This was a 3.1 percent year-on-year increase compared to 2020, which had recorded a drop in sales due to the economic downturn and lower demand brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Motor vehicle production in the U.S. also started to recover, with the country’s output rising by just under four percent between 2020 and 2021. The manufacturing sector's slow recovery was in part due to the global automotive semiconductor shortage, which impacted the industry through 2021 and the beginning of 2022.
The U.S. motor vehicle and parts retail industry boasted revenues of 1.25 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020, an increase compared to the decrease of the overall light vehicle sale volume.

The sustainable vehicle market

Preliminary figures for vehicles from the model year 2021 single out pickup trucks as the type of vehicle with the highest carbon dioxide emission levels, followed by vans. The overall CO2 emissions of new light-duty vehicles have decreased since 2017, but remain over 270 grams per mile for all vehicle types, with Sedans recording the lowest emission levels. Incentives to switch to alternative fuels with lower emission levels in the U.S. can include the annual fuel cost for light-duty vehicles, with all-electric vehicles recording the lowest fuel costs between 500 and 850 U.S. dollars per year as of 2021. However, the cost of fueling hybrid vehicles could climb higher than the cost of diesel-powered units. That same year, one in fifth states was considered an accessible market for consumers wishing to own an electric vehicle.