The Most-Searched Cars of 2017

Was it anticipation around the launch of the funky, exciting new Stinger that pushed Kia to the fourth place among the top-search car brands on Google? Perhaps not, as the brand’s most popular models – at least among searchers – were the Optima, Sorento, Soul, and Sportage. Still, Kia has enjoyed a banner 2017, with strong sales making it one of the top-ten selling car brands in the U.S. thus far.

Toyota is a powerhouse in terms of U.S. sales volume, with a whopping 1.94 million vehicles sold so far this year (excluding Lexus). With that many people interested in learning about and buying Toyota vehicles, it’s hardly surprising the brand found its way into the fourth-place spot on this search ranking. Specifically, Google users searched for the Sienna minivan, Tacoma pickup truck, Camry sedan (which was redesigned this year), Celica (which is no longer in production), and Corolla.

Another perennial favorite with shoppers, Honda was once again hugely popular in terms of internet search queries. The Civic was the brand’s most-Googled model, and while we’d like to believe that’s down to the excitement around the raucous Type R, it’s probably better explained by the all-round goodness – and enduring popularity – of Honda’s compact car. The Accord sedan, which was redesigned this year, also proved popular with web surfers, as did the ultra-practical CR-V crossover (it recently won a Motor1 comparison test).

The only General Motors brand to crack the top ten in terms of search volume is Buick; no word on the popularity of the query, “That’s a Buick?” Actually, here’s what people were searching for: the Buick Enclave crossover, the Regal (the new version of which we recently drove), the LaCrosse, and the Encore subcompact crossover – plus, inexplicably, the LeSabre, which hasn’t been on sale since 2005.

Acura was another luxury brand to make a strong showing when it came to search volume. The brand’s top-selling model, the MDX crossover, garnered the most interest among people searching for Acuras. Amazingly, the NSX hybrid supercar didn’t crack the top five models list, RDX and TLX proving more popular. Interestingly, Googlers still searched for the TL and TSX sedans, which were both discontinued after 2014 and replaced by the aforementioned TLX.

Few carmakers have been as hyped in recent years as Elon Musk’s all-electric brand Tesla. There is clearly a lot of interest in the brand, whether it’s customers who want to buy the Model S and Model X, prospective buyers eager for news on the much-delayed Model 3, or simply curious fans of all things techy and eco-friendly. Google also reported that lots of its users searched for news on the Tesla semi truck and the next Roadster sports car.

Although as of writing Hyundai is beating out sibling brand Kia in terms of U.S. sales volume this year, far more internet searches were dedicated to Hyundai. Unsurprisingly, the majority of those searches were based on the brand’s most popular models: the Sonata midsize sedan, the Elantra compact car, and the Santa Fe crossover. “Hyundai Genesis” came in fourth place, even though Genesis has since been broken out as its own standalone luxury brand.

The only brand from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to make the top-ten list, Dodge appears to have attracted search queries thanks in part to its lineup of hot cars: the Charger and Challenger are the first and second most-searched models from Dodge this year. Interestingly, the wild Demon was fifth place among the Dodge models that Googlers searched for this year – clearly still getting a lot of attention, but not as much as the Grand Caravan minivan, which wound up in fourth place, just behind the Durango SUV.