KBB reveals most and least popular car brands, segments by region

Anyone that has traveled around the United States can attest to the fact that car shoppers in different regions have varying automotive tastes. What flies in Southern California might not exactly be in vogue in the Midwest.

Although those variations have long been known, Kelley Blue Book has released a new study that puts those regional preferences into mathematical terms.

KBB broke the country up into four regions – West, Midwest, South and Northeast – and delved into trends like most and least popular car brands and the type of vehicles favored by a particular quadrant.

Not surprisingly, KBB discovered that car buyers in the West are 86 percent more likely to consider a Tesla than shoppers in other regions of the country. Scion was second, with a 68 percent higher consideration rate than the rest of the country.

The Midwest is home to the Big Three, and the residents of that region shop accordingly. Midwesterners are 64 percent more likely than the rest of the country to buy a Chrysler and 53 percent more likely to buy a Buick.

The South is somewhat of a mixed bag, with Southerners proving partial to Infiniti (17 percent more likely) and Ram (14 percent). KBB notes that the South isn’t particularly brand loyal when it comes to vehicles, which explains the relatively low percentages of its top marques.

In the snowy Northeast Subaru and Volvo reign supreme, with Northerners 56 percent and 45 percent, respectively, more likely than the rest of the U.S. to purchase those brands.

When it comes to least popular brands, Western shoppers tend to stay away from Chrysler and Buick (36 percent and 30 percent lower consideration than the rest of the country) while Midwesterners shy away from flashy premium brand Mercedes-Benz and BMW (37 percent and 30 percent lower). Subaru and Tesla are at the bottom of shopping lists in the South (42 percent and 22 percent lower), while Ram and Scion fail to make the cut in the Northeast (27 percent and 26 percent lower).

“It seems what is popular in one region is overlooked in another,” said Arthur Henry, analyst at Kelley Blue Book. “Westerners prefer fuel-efficient brands with style, such as Tesla and Scion, but those same brands are shunned in the South and Northeast. Those living in the South gravitate toward brands that are manufactured in the same region. Shoppers from the Midwest also have an affinity for brands headquartered or produced in their own backyard.”

Given its propensity for a green brand Tesla, it should come as no surprise that the West’s favorite vehicle type is the hybrid car. Buyers in the West are most likely to omit a full-size crossover from their shopping list.

Although not popular in the Western part of the U.S., full-size crossovers are the vehicle of choice for Midwesterners. Compact luxury vehicles are the least popular segment in the Midwest, which explains why the region is not high on Mercedes or BMW.

Southern buyers prefer full-size SUVs, while the West’s favorite hybrid cars are the region’s least considered segment. Car buyers in the Northeast tend to buy compact crossovers and largely avoid full-size SUVs.

“Based on actual shopping data on KBB.com, hybrids are synonymous with the West, as SUVs are with the South,” said Henry. “Seeing the key drivers motivating shoppers are topography, metropolitan density and government regulations, it is not surprising compact crossovers are preferred over full-size SUVs in the Northeast. This shows when brand choice is layered on top of segment preferences, manufacturers like Subaru rise to the top with its four-wheel drive options, along with Volvo and its high safety ratings, which help both brands drive interest in this region.”