OK, all you data geeks — this story’s for you. Experian Automotive releases quarterly snapshots of the automotive trends they track on behalf of their customers. We’re talking about a massive database encompassing nearly a billion cars (more on that later) in the U.S. and Canada while tracking consumer info for more than 250 million individuals.
This is data that helps lenders assess a car shopper’s credit risk, automakers manage vehicle lifecycles, and dealers decide the best approach to marketing.
It’s All About ‘Vehicles In Operation’
Yes, the third quarter of 2025 ended on Sept. 30, but it takes a lot of time to crunch the numbers. So here’s something interesting we gleaned while reading through a newly released 38-page slide deck.
Experian’s data with regard to manufacturers is not just about annual or quarterly car sales. The company tracks “Vehicles in Operation,” and this data goes back decades (explaining the database of a billion cars).
296 Million U.S. Vehicles Over Past 12 Months
At the end of September, Experian says 296 million vehicles were on the road in the U.S. over the prior 12 months while 16.3 million new light vehicles were registered and 12.5 million “vehicles went out of operation,” to that great junkyard in the sky.
While industry estimates for an automaker’s U.S. market share are based on vehicle sales, Experian calculates market share based on vehicles in operation.
Don’t Strike Up The Parade Just Yet
While General Motors estimated its 2024 U.S. market share at 16.5 percent (based on sales), Experian pegs it at 20.2 percent based on light vehicles in operation. If GM’s actual U.S. market share surpassed 20 percent, a parade would be rolling through downtown Detroit.
But all the news on this front isn’t great for GM. Experian tracks this data long-term and says the automaker had 75 million light vehicles in operation (including classic cars post 1967) in the U.S. in 2009 — the same year, you might recall, the General endured a trip through bankruptcy court, alongside what is now Stellantis.
Battle For Second Place Is Neck and Neck
But Experian’s latest data pull shows GM’s VIO number sliding consistently since 2009, to about 60 million vehicles on the road today. No automaker is close to catching GM on this stat anytime soon, but the battle for second place is neck and neck.
For now, Ford is No.2, with about 46 million light vehicles in operation, but Toyota is closing in fast, at about 45 million. Based on these numbers, Ford’s current VIO market share is 15.5 percent while Toyota stands at 15.2 percent.
Ford Is Sliding, Toyota Is Surging
But the trend lines are abundantly clear: Ford has been sliding backward since 2009 (when it had about 52 million vehicles in operation) while Toyota has surged since 2009, when the Japanese automaker had about 27 million VIO. Meanwhile, Toyota has already passed Ford in U.S. market share based on annual sales — 15 percent to 13 percent, in 2024.
The VIO numbers raise a question: Are Toyota’s vehicles lasting longer than those from Ford or GM? No, it’s just a snapshot of legally registered vehicles, says Experian’s Jordan Takeyama in an email to TopSpeed.
Maybe It Became A Collector Vehicle
“Vehicles can be removed from operation for reasons such as a branded title, the vehicle is no longer driven so registration isn’t renewed by the owner, vehicle is not operational so the owner decides not to renew its registration,” Takeyama writes. Or, “it becomes a collector vehicle (post-1967) that no longer sees the road so no longer renewed, or the vehicle was exported to another country so removed from US VIO.”
All Transplants Are Growing Their VIO
It’s not just Toyota that has been steadily growing its number of VIO. Every foreign-based transplant automaker has grown its number since 2009, but none quite so dramatically as Toyota.
Honda has grown its light vehicles in operation in the U.S. from 18 million in 2009 to nearly 29 million today. Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru and Kia have all added at least five million vehicles to their tallies since 2009, while Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler/Mercedes, and Mazda have posted more modest gains.
Stellantis Is Both Up And Down
Stellantis places fourth overall in VIO, with 11.4 percent market share, but its trendline has not been solely in one direction. Chrysler Group LLC had about 30 million vehicles in operation in 2009, and at some point the number grew to 34 million. But that tally has slid back to about 33 million light VIO on the road, perhaps reflecting the recent loss of certain Dodge and Chrysler cars.
Source: Experian
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