Car Sales and How they Describe America

A very interesting article was posted last week on CNN Money about domestic car sales. On opposite ends of our country, foreign auto sales outpace domestic sales significantly. In California, eight of the top ten best selling cars are Asian, one is European, and the other is the Ford F-150. In New York, again, eight of the top ten are Asian, with the Chevy Silverado and Cruze comprising the rest. The story alters in the Midwest. Illinois’ top ten consists of five GMs and two Fords, and six domestic models occupy Texas’ top ten.

Read what you want into these statistics and CNN’s determinations for the disparities (geographic proximity to foreign automakers, location of sales offices in southern California and New York). I think this is more a matter of taste and the increasingly varying cultural attitudes of the middle U.S. and the coasts. If a car is going to sell, capitalism provides the necessary infrastructure for any company to be successful. But that will never be the case for a foreign firm in the Midwest, regardless of globalization. Old habits and social mores rarely abate with cars.

[art by kaioshin on flickr]