Press Release
America's Most Drivien Cars: ADP Autosource Announces Survey Results
10/14/96
America's Most Popular High-Mileage Cars and Trucks ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 10 -- GM's Saturn and Ford's F-Series pickup top a list of America's "most-driven" cars and light trucks recently compiled by ADP Autosource. "The Ford F-350 pickup took top honors as America's 'Most Driven Vehicle' overall," said Corey Wurzner, ADP Autosource's market research director. "F-350 owners drive their vehicles an average of 17,856 miles per year -- nearly 1,200 miles more per year than any other group of car or light-truck owners." The Saturn SL was America's "Most Driven Car" based on ADP survey results. Saturn owners drove their cars an average of 16,776 miles per year. Only one import car or truck made the top-10 car or light-truck listings -- the Mazda 1/2 ton pickup, which placed eighth on ADP's list of most-driven vans and light trucks. (Ironically it is actually designed and built by Ford.) Among the Big Three, General Motors placed first with 11 cars and trucks on the combined car-and-truck listing, while Chrysler had five models on the list and Ford had three. Chevrolet was the most popular "brand" with seven entries -- two more than Dodge. The ADP survey is based on new car and light-truck mileage statistics compiled over the first three years of ownership. ADP Autosource maintains the largest database of information on cars and trucks sold in North America with mileage, sales and equipment records for nearly 24 million vehicles. The Chevrolet Lumina APV, followed by the Ford Aerostar and Dodge Caravan, had the most mileage among vans on the list. Only General Motors and Chrysler placed vehicles on the list of most-driven cars. "Imports tend to be less popular in rural areas and among major fleet owners, which may explain their relatively poor showing in the mileage survey," Mr. Wurzner said. "Work vehicles tend to accumulate more mileage than personal-use vehicles, which accounts for the fact that eight of the 10 most-driven vehicles were trucks," he added. "The study clearly indicates the popularity of American- built trucks as commercial, work-related vehicles." "The rankings also are an indication of overall quality and dependability as well," he added. "Drivers' lifestyles also factor in the findings. The Saturn SL owners for example, appear to be adventure-bound weekend vacationers who love to hit the road," claims Mr. Wurzner. The most popular cars after the Saturn SL were the Dodge Dynasty and Chevrolet Lumina. In ADP's combined car-and-truck listing, the Ford F-350 was followed by the Chevrolet K25, Saturn SL, Chevrolet Lumina APV and Ford F-250. Following is ADP's top 10 list of America's "Most Driven Vehicles" based on average miles driven per year during the first three years of ownership: 1 Ford F350 17,856 2 Chevrolet K25 16,848 3 Saturn SL 16,776 4 Chevrolet Lumina APV 16,668 5 Ford F250 16,632 6 Dodge Ram 250 16,620 7 Chevrolet K15 16,440 8 Ford Aerostar 16,236 9 Chevrolet S10 16,224 10 Mazda 1/2 Ton Pickup 16,176 ADP's list of 10 "Most Driven Cars" includes: 1 Saturn SL 16,766 2 Dodge Dynasty 15,960 3 Chevrolet Lumina 15,672 4 Chevrolet Corsica 15,624 5 Dodge Spirit 15,552 6 Dodge Colt 15,540 7 Pontiac Grand Prix 15,372 8 Geo Metro 15,072 9 Pontiac Grand Am 15,060 10 Chevrolet Caprice 15,024 ADP Autosource is a business unit of Automatic Data Processing, Inc., one of the largest computing services firms in the United States with annual revenues exceeding $3 billion. An information source for major insurance companies, Autosource captures valuation data on more than 30 percent of the used cars and trucks sold in North America, adding more than 550,000 new transactions a week to its database.