In this divided age, everything is political, from the news we consume to the fast food we binge. But no consumer choice, consciously or unconsciously, determines “us vs. them” more than which car we drive. To see how our rides reflect our political leanings, we compared the 1.7 million vehicles listed on CarGurus to the results of the 2020 presidential election. We included only heavily red or blue counties, meaning counties where either Donald Trump or Joe Biden won by at least 19 percentage points. We then placed all the cars on the political spectrum from reddest to bluest.
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The results were encouraging. America’s most Republican vehicle? The Jeep Wrangler. Which vehicle is the second most Republican? jeep gladiator. And eight out of the 10 reddest vehicles are American-made. If you like Trump, you probably like Chevrolet.
Top 10 Most Republican Vehicles
The opposite was true for blue counties. America’s most democratic car is the Toyota Prius. And eight out of the 10 bluest vehicles are foreign-made. If you like Biden, you’ll probably get your oil changed at a VW dealership.
Top 10 Most Democratic Vehicles
But most interesting are the means by which it appeals to both sides of the political divide. Despite some models ranking highly among Republicans, Jeep is America’s most purple automaker, or one that spans the widest spectrum of red and blue. It turns out that the automaker has made a conscious effort to overcome tribalism and forge bonds with Americans of all political leanings. There are military veterans who drove Jeeps, soccer moms worried about space and safety, and tree huggers who want to get out. Road, MAGA enthusiasts looking for rides across America. (Never mind that Jeep is owned by Stellantis, a multinational auto conglomerate headquartered in Hoofddorp, Netherlands.)
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“You don’t have the luxury of developing a culture around your entire brand,” says Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds, the leading guide for car buyers. “It requires direction and purpose. It’s very difficult for Jeep to pull off.”
It all started with the brand’s most iconic model, the Jeep Wrangler. First sold in 1987, the Wrangler offered an off-road aesthetic that appealed to both red and blue while harking back to the glory days of the Greatest Generation. From there, Jeep has allowed drivers to grow and age with the brand. Dave Kelleher, a Jeep dealer in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, has seen his customers graduate from Jeep to Jeep as their lifestyles change. The 20-something started out driving a Wrangler, then moved on with his wife and several children to the Grand Cherokee, a large family car that starts at $38,800, and the Grand Wagoneer, a three-row luxury SUV. That sticker price can soar into six figures. “The Wrangler halo draws people into the brand, and that DNA continues in every Jeep they sit in,” said Kelleher.
How purple is your car brand?
In fact, Jeep’s appeal is so widespread that its fans have started a dizzying number of online clubs and forums, from “Jeep Girls” and “Outlaw Jeeps” to “Deep and Dirty Jeep Club.” Masu. The owner hosts Jeep jamborees all over the country, from the Moab desert to the Appalachian mountains. They’ll line the streets at Toledo Jeep Fest, the city’s annual celebration of the brand, home to the iconic Wrangler. And since the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve started leaving rubber duckies in each other’s cars. This is an internal signal to other drivers that they are part of the club. In a time of political extremes, America may become a house divided, as Lincoln feared. But there are enough jeeps parked in front of the house, so perhaps there is still hope that we can maintain unity.
Text by Mark Healy, founder of Flipturn Creative Studios, and Nora Naughton, BI’s senior automotive reporter. Data from Andrew Thompson, creator of the cultural research project Components.
