We collected a substantial amount of sample data of 5,430 car shipments across the US interstates from the first half of 2025. This data suggests striking patterns, a wonderful study of the vehicle industry in the US, and shows the market demands and shifts in the most digestible manner. In this report, we will decode some of the most compelling data we have obtained this year.
Top 15 Vehicles Transported Across The US - Report Overview:
As per the data, Toyota dominated the market with 1 of every 10 vehicles shipped being a Toyota. We also found that the majority of people, 75.6%, are shipping their daily drivers across the US compared to luxury vehicles. Furthermore, 96.7% of all vehicles shipped during this period were in running condition, only 3.3% were inoperational.
Another interesting trend we came across is that gasoline-powered vehicles still dominate the automotive landscape with 95.1% vehicles powered by gas while only 4.9% vehicles we hauled were either EVs or hybrids.
Top Players: No Real Surprises, But Big Gaps
When we conducted a brief analysis of the data we obtained in the first half of 2025, it revealed that Toyota grabbed 11.6% of the market whereas Ford has secured the second position. Japanese brands are the unsung heroes in the vehicle delivery business.
Our data shows that American brands are also in demand, but not as much as the Japanese ones. Ford came second with 9.1% of vehicles shipped, meaning 1 in every 10 vehicles shipped in the US is a Ford.
Chevrolet also displayed a strong hold with around 7.3% auto shipments across the US. Honda also showed great progress as well with 7.1% vehicles hauled across the US in the first half of 2025. In all this, BMW also landed in the top five companies with over 5% luxury car shipments. According to our data, BMW is the only premium brand in this tier.
Vehicle Types: Luxury & EVs Still Niche in Shipping
Luxury vehicles made up nearly a quarter of all shipments (24.4%). That’s significant volume, but standard brands dominated at 75.6%. This tells us everyday cars and trucks are shipped far more often.
Electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for just 4.9% of shipments. Their low share likely reflects their smaller presence on US roads overall compared to gas/diesel vehicles (95.1%). This is a concrete vehicle shipping trends insight directly from the numbers.
Pro Tip: If you own an electric or hybrid vehicle (only 4.9% of shipments), inform your carrier in advance. Many drivers have limited experience with EVs, so providing specific handling instructions for your battery-powered vehicle can prevent complications and ensure safer transport.
Condition Matters: Almost Everything Ran
We found out some striking patterns as around 96.7% of cars shipped were in running condition. This particular data suggests why open carriers handle 88.1% shipments.
Running vehicles are cheaper and simpler to load onto the standard open trailers. Only 3.3% vehicles need specialized equipment to shipment, such as forklifts, winches, or liftgates which require enclosed trailers.
Pro Tip: If your vehicle is not running, expect to pay an additional amount for shipping due to specialized machinery needed to load and unload. You can get quotes for non-running cars specifically and book early as few carriers handle these shipments.
What This Means for the Road
The data confirms Toyota’s broad popularity translates directly to transport volume. Ford and Chevrolet’s strong positioning shows that pickup trucks and SUVs are frequently moved.
BMW leading the luxury segment suggests high demand for shipping premium brands. The tiny EV/hybrid share shows these vehicles aren’t being shipped in large numbers yet. Finally, the high percentage of running vehicles keeps open carriers the go-to choice for most moves.
Top 15 Vehicle Makes: Who Shipped What & Why It Matters
We broke down each brand from the top 15 list from our car shipments. We have dissected the data and found out the key players and what our detailed analysis revealed.
The Big Players And Their Chunk Of The Pie
According to our data, the American and Japanese brands owned the highest spots in the first half of 2025. We shipped 11.6% of Toyota cars across the US. Ford was the second most-shipped vehicle with 9.1% shipping volume. Other most frequently shipped vehicles were Chevrolet, Honda, and BMW, accounting for 7.3%, 7.1%, and 5.0% respectively.
The Middle Pack: Close Races
We shipped almost a similar amount of cars in the middle pack of different brands. We transported 5.0% of Jeep vehicles. Mercedes-Benz was also frequently shipped, accounting for 4.8%. We observed that the demand for Nissan, Hyundai, and Subaru closely followed one another, with the share of 3.7%, 3.5%, 3.4% respectively.
Luxury’s Strong Presence
Our data suggests that luxury vehicles make up to 24.4% of the total shipments, which is a significant volume. However, we found out that the standard brand market is much bigger with over 75.6% vehicle shipment. Our data suggests that most people prefer everyday cars and trucks more often.
We also found out that electric and hybrid vehicles were shipped less frequently, only 4.9% of the time. This data helped us understand that gas/diesel vehicles are still dominating the vehicle industry with over 95.1% shipments. Our data provides great insights about the US vehicle industry.
Detailed Brand Analysis: Top 10 Deep Dive
We tracked different models shipped in the first half of 2025 to observe great patterns. Let’s check out the details.
1. Toyota: The Reliability Champion We Know Best
We noticed Toyota dominated the vehicle shipping market, accounting for 11.6% car shipments in the first half of 2025. We further magnified the data to find out which specific models were chosen more all across US, which revealed the following:
- RAV4 SUVs crushed it. Out of all the Toyota cars we shipped, 18.8% of them were RAV4 SUVs
- 15.7% of all Toyota vehicles shipped in first half of 2025 were Toyota Camrys
- Toyota Corollas came in 3rd spot with 11.9% of them shipped in the Q1 and Q2 of 2025
Our data also suggests that 11.0% of all Toyota vehicles shipped in the US in the first half of 2025 were hybrids. Most dominating models were Prius, which further reinforces Toyota’s alternative fuel leadership.
We observed that most of our carriers were occupied by Toyota vehicles consistently. The reason behind it is probably their balanced size distribution from Corollas to Highlanders. We rarely encountered any complications with Toyota models.
2. Ford: American Performance Meets Practical Workhorse
According to our data, Ford cars accounted for 9.1% of vehicle shipments. And, the most dominant Ford was a sports car which was surprising. This could be due to the performance vehicle owners using professional transport services as a protection of their investment.
Out of all the Fords shipped in the US in the first half of 2025, 13.3% were Mustangs, while F-150 pickups followed closely with 11.1% shipments. Moreover, in SUVS we shipped, Ford Broncos and Explorers combined made up 20% of Ford shipments in the US.
While gas-powered muscle cars like Mustang dominated auto transport shipments from Ford, we found that only 0.4% of Ford EVs were shipped in the first half of 2025 compared to 2.5% of Tesla’s EVs, which shows Tesla is the preferred choice among US electric car owners. This wide gap suggests that excessive advertising can do little to nothing to sell cars.
3. Chevrolet: Sports Car Shipping Powerhouse
Chevrolet cars also dominated the car shipping industry in 2025’s first half with 7.3% car vehicles of the total shipments being from Chevrolet. The models mostly transported included:
18.8% of Chevrolette we shipped in the first half of 2025 were Corvettes, while Silverado came second with 11.5% of the total Chevrolet shipments. Camaros made 7.5% of the total Chevrolet we shipped in the first two quarters of 2025. We also discovered that EVs made up 4.5% of total Chevrolet shipped, which is slightly better than Ford EVs but still another low volume of EV shipment, which shows that traditional vehicles are still dominating the industry.
All in all, 1 out of 5 Chevys transported were Corvette, which exceeded the ratio of sports car to brand of every other brand. We also noticed that sports cars accounted for more than 26% of Chevrolet shipments.
4. Honda: Sedan Loyalty Defies Industry Trends
Honda provided our most compelling counter-narrative to SUV market dominance. We observed Accords leading Honda shipments at 21.9%, with Civics incredibly close at 20.1% of all Hondas shipped in the US within 2025’s first half. Combined, these sedans represented 42% of Honda shipments.
CR-V SUVs, which are also one of the safest SUVs, captured significant volume at 22.9% combined, but Honda’s sedan strength stood out dramatically. While other manufacturers abandoned sedans, Honda owners clearly valued and shipped these models consistently.
What we noticed on our carriers: Honda sedans loaded efficiently and transported without complications. Their consistent dimensions optimized our trailer space utilization. We rarely encountered Honda-specific transport challenges.
5. BMW: Luxury SUV Preference Dominates Premium Shipping
When it comes to premium shipping, BMW stands tall with over 5.0% total vehicles shipped in the US in the first half of 2025. The X5 model took the lead with 14.3% of all BMW shipments while X3 followed closely with 13.6% of all BMWs shipped in the US.
We also saw the likes of 3 Series coupes, BMW M, and Z4 making up about 17.6% of total BMW vehicles shipped in the US while EVs lacked behind with only 1.5% of BMW electric cars shipped in the first half of 2025.
Our data helped us understand the BMW market a lot. Around 28% of cars shipped across the US were luxury SUVs. Whereas, the sports cars combined for 17.6% of BMW shipments. We usually loaded the BMW cars in enclosed trailers to protect premium paint and interiors.
Despite aggressive marketing and advertising, our data suggests that the volume of EVs shipped were low, which shows that even luxury car buyers prefer traditional cars over electric ones.
6. Jeep: Extreme Model Concentration We’ve Never Seen
We obtained the most concentrated data from Jeep which made up to 5.0% of our total vehicle shipments across the US, out of which, 39.8% were Wranglers and 23.8% were Grand Cherokees.
Our data suggested that 4 out of 10 Jeeps we transported were Wranglers. Not only that, Wranglers and Grand Cherokees make up to 63.6% of all Jeep shipments in 2025.
Our data also highlighted a very shocking marketing fact that absolutely zero Jeep EVs were shipped in the first half of 2025. This data suggests that Jeep buyers are yet to embrace the electric models, but currently the market is dead.
7. Mercedes-Benz: Diverse Luxury Demand Patterns
We have obtained interesting data for Mercedes Benz, which accounts for 4.8% of total vehicles transported in the quarter 1 and 2 of 2025. 11.4% of Mercedes shipped in were E-class sedans while C-class sedans followed closely with 10.3% of total Mercedes shipments.
Moreover, 14.5% of the SUV models from Mercedes we shipped included GLE and GLC while Sprinter Vans made up 4.2% of all Mercedes shipments in the first half of 2025 in the US.
We have noticed that people prefer sedans over SUVs when it comes to Mercedes-Benz. These people often option for enclosed carriers, particularly for AMG performance variants.
8. Nissan: Steady Mainstream Performance
Our data suggests that there has been consistent demand for Nissan vehicles, accounting for 3.7% of the total vehicles shipped in the first half of 2025 in the US. Out of all the Nissan vehicles we hauled, 23.3% were Altima, we also shipped 14.9% Rogue SUVs, and also 11.9% Sentra compact sedans were shipped.
EVs made up 2.5% of the total Nissan shipments in the first half of 2025. There has been persistent demand for sedans and SUVs, but there is a market for EVs belonging to Nissan as well.
9. Hyundai: Brand in Transition Shows Promise
Hyundai vehicles were shipped not as often as its contemporaries, it made up 3.5% of the total vehicles shipped in the US in 2025’s first two quarters. Top models that were shipped include 19.8% of Hyundai Sonata while Tucson made up 16.7% of all Hyundai shipments in the US. Santa Fe followed closely with 15.1% of all shipments, while 4.7% of Hyundai EVs were also hauled in the first 2 quarters of 2025.
Our data helped us gather a lot of information on customer’s preference regarding EVs. Hyundai has the most amount of EVs shipment.
10. Subaru: SUV Specialization Perfected
Subaru made up around 3.4% of the total vehicle shipments in the US in 2025’s first half. We have seen that SUV and crossover models were most frequently shipped models of Subaru, accounting for 50% of the transport volume, where Foresters made up 29% of all Subaru shipments while Outbacks took 21.3% share of all Subaru vehicles shipped in the first two quarters of 2025.
We noticed that every Subaru we shipped had an all-wheel drive which created consistent loading and transporting characteristics. We also noticed higher shipping demands from areas with harsh winter conditions which suggested that many of these vehicles are relocated seasonally for optional all-weather performance.
Pro Tip: Subaru owners sending their vehicles from winter regions should clean it before transport to ensure smooth services.
What This Shipping Data Reveals
We noted that there are 15 brands that handled 74.4% of all the vehicles shipped in the first half of 2025. There is a standard split of 75% of standard while 25% luxury vehicle shipments. We also found out that mainstream brands like Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, Jeep, BMW, Mercedes, NIssan, Hyundai, and Subaru dominated more as they are more on the roads.
| Brands | Shipment Percentage |
|---|---|
| Toyota | 11.6% |
| Ford | 9.1% |
| Chevrolet | 7.3% |
| Jeep | 5.0% |
Top 5 Luxury Vehicle Brands We Shipped in First Half of 2025:
We also shipped luxury cars, starting from Lexus that ranked the highest with 3.2% shipments. We noticed that Audi closely followed with 3.1% shipments. We also shipped 2.9% of Volkswagen, 2.5% of Tesla, and 2.4% of Mazda in the first half of 2025.
Our data helped us deduce that luxury brands may have grabbed 5 spots, but the volume of shipments was only 18.6%. Standard cars, however, had the share of 56.1% shipments. Our data also shows that Tesla may appear popular but the total car shipments were only 2.5%.
3 Critical Patterns That Define Modern Vehicle Shipping
SUV Dominance Across Most Brands
We observed that SUV models lead the shipments for 7 out of 10 vehicle brands. We also noticed that there were only three brands Honda, Nissan, and Mercedes maintained strong shipping volumes. Our data showed that an SUV is actually preferred over any other vehicle type.
Sedan Loyalty Persists In Specific Brands
We noticed that only Honda and Toyota maintained a great shipping volume of sedans. Our data indicates that many people have chosen Accord, Civic, Camry, and Corolla models.
Electric Adoption Varies Dramatically By Brand
We noticed a major difference between brands promoting their EVs. The range of EVs varied dramatically as there were 0% EVs shipped from Jeep while 4.7% of Hyundai’s EVs were shipped throughout the first half of 2025. Our data shows that people are still reluctant to adopt EVs and traditional vehicles are still dominating the industry market.
Body Type Breakdown: What Shapes US Auto Transport
We collected data from 5,430 shipments with 99.7% success that reveals some critical patterns shaping the vehicle shipment operations nationwide.
SUV/Crossover Shipments Dominate the Landscape
SUVs and crossovers claimed a commanding 41.4% share of all vehicles transported in the US between January and June 2025. Their sheer volume directly impacts trailer configurations nationwide. Carriers now prioritize equipment accommodating these taller, wider vehicles as standard practice. This opens doors for bigger vehicles to be moved faster, reducing long pickup times.
The Sedan vs SUV Reality in Transport
Sedans on the other hand, ranked second with around 24.8% of vehicle shipments transported across the country in the first half of 2025. We noticed that there is a decline in the shipments of sedans, which indicates a major shift in the vehicle industry, with a focus on SUVs and crossovers ownerships.
Performance and Utility Vehicles Fill Key Niches
Coupes and sports cars represented 17.5% of shipments, confirming steady enthusiast transport demand. Pickup trucks followed at 9.0%, reflecting consistent commercial and personal usage. These segments combined account for over one-quarter of all transport activity. Their specific handling requirements – particularly for low-clearance sports cars – create specialized service demands within the industry.
Specialty Vehicles Require Tailored Solutions
We also noticed that apart from the mainstream categories, there were many shipments of specialty vehicles. According to our data, around 3.57% RVs and 1.7% motorhomes were shipped across the US in the first half of 2025. These vehicles demand a larger trailer during shipment. We also noticed that the demand for shipping motorcycles stayed low, just 0.6% of motorcycles moved across the US, which means either people are towing them on their own or selling them when moving instead of taking the bikes to their new place.
Though a negligible amount, we also found that people are actively using auto transport services to move their commercial/agriculture equipment as they made 0.006% of our domestic shipments in the first half of 2025. Same goes for golf carts which comprised 0.005% of all shipments across the US.
Operational Implications for Carriers
We noticed that there has been a major shift in the vehicle shipment industry due to the supremacy of SUVs and crossovers. These vehicles require adjustable ramps and specific trailer types. We also noticed that 17.5% of sport cars shipments sustain the demand for low-clearance trailers too. We shipped around 9.0% pickup trucks which also justifies the requirement for carriers for heavier vehicles.
Carrier Type & Vehicle Value: Our Data-Driven Insights
We got a crystal clear idea of the connection between price and protection due to the data we collected in the first half of 2025.
The Protection Premium Gap
We shipped 88.1% vehicles on open carriers which averaged $26,667 each. Meanwhile, we also shipped 11.9% vehicles in enclosed carriers averaging $47,425 per vehicle. We spotted that there is a 78% difference of value between these methods of transport. We noticed that higher value owners evidently prefer extra protection.
Luxury vs Standard: Different Mindsets
We shipped 18.7% of luxury vehicles in enclosed trailers, and shipped only 9.6% standard vehicles. This data shows that 95% of luxury car owners choose enclosed protection. It also proves that most people who get their luxury cars shipped choose to preserve the value of the car over logistics.
Value Thresholds Change Behavior
We have carefully documented the exact price points where the preferences of vehicle owners shifted dramatically:
| Value Range | Total Vehicles | Open Carrier | Enclosed Carrier | Enclosed % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $20K | 2,787 | 2,494 (89.5%) | 293 (10.5%) | 10.5% |
| $20K - $40K | 1,437 | 1,318 (91.7%) | 119 (8.3%) | 8.3% |
| $40K - $60K | 529 | 458 (86.6%) | 71 (13.4%) | 13.4% |
| $60K - $100K | 486 | 398 (81.9%) | 88 (18.1%) | 18.1% |
| $100K - $200K | 160 | 111 (69.4%) | 49 (30.6%) | 30.6% |
| Over $200K | 31 | 4 (12.9%) | 27 (87.1%) | 87.1% |
According to our data, many customers who have spent around $60,000 chose enclosed carriers, so much so that the demand has doubled. On the other hand, we notice that there was a rise of 30.6% in the adoption of enclosed carriers if the value of the vehicle was $100,000. Above $200,000, everyone chose enclosed carriers.
What We Transported Enclosed
We have transported:
- Multiple exotic sports car valued at $500,000
- Several high-performance coupes between $468,000 to $240,000
- Luxury cars worth $300,000+
- Premium grand tourers over $330,000
According to our data, sports cars dominated the enclosed shipping moves. Many owners openly refuse to leverage the open carriers, which contrasts sharply with popular car shipping trends for everyday use cars.
Clear Patterns Emerged
- People spending more than $60,000 chose enclosed carriers more
- 95%+ exotic car owners prefer enclosed shipping
- 20-25% enclosed carriers were luxury cars
Our data reveals customer psychology. We shipped many top transported vehicle models in open carriers. But, the majority of the luxury car buyers prefer enclosed trailers due to the additional protection and for them, preserving the value is much more important.
Wrapping Up:
Though our data set was limited to only 5,430 shipments, it establishes some stark patterns of what kind of vehicles people prefer in the US, different body types, brand loyalty, and the most used carrier types for different vehicle price points. Moving on, if you have any brand, make, model, type, and value of vehicle that you need to ship across the US, we think we’ve clearly established with this data that Easy Auto Ship is an excellent company to use. You can get a free, no-obligation auto transport quote using our estimate calculator or call (888) 687-3243 to talk to one of our representatives.
