It used to be bad for business in Michigan to drive around in a foreign car. Salesmen would show up in American-made models because someone they were selling to was bound to have close relatives or friends who worked for General Motors or Ford.
Those days have changed somewhat. But according to social media research by BetMichigan.com – your best source for Michigan online casinos – Ford remains the most popular car brand in Michigan, even though it no longer makes cars, except for the Mustang.
The Fiesta, Fusion and Taurus have all gone bye-bye. In addition to Michigan, Ford also was the favorite brand in Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming, most likely because of the company’s top-selling trucks.
Honda (7 states): Alaska, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina
Dodge (5 states): Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico
Audi (4 states): Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York
Ford (4 states): Michigan, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming
Buick (3 states): Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin
Chevrolet (3 states): Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma
Hyundai (3 states): Alabama, Arizona, Illinois
Mercedes-Benz (3 states): Florida, Georgia, Virginia
Mazda (3 states): Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington
Volkswagen (3 states): New Hampshire, Oregon, Utah
One state each: Alfa Romeo: Rhode Island; BMW: Nevada; Jeep: West Virginia; Kia: Ohio; Lamborghini: Texas; Land Rover: New Jersey; Lincoln: Nebraska; Nissan: Tennessee; Subaru: Vermont; Tesla: California; Toyota: Hawaii; Volvo: Maine.
We took the most popular brands in the U.S. market as determined by the CarLogos.org Top 50 list as our base. Then BetMichigan.com used Google Trends to search each car brand, thus determining the highest level of interest in those manufacturers in each state.
We averaged out the results over 12 months, from July 25, 2022, to July 25, 2023, to make our final list.
No manufacturer dominated the nation – Honda topped the list in seven states, more than any other carmaker. In all, 10 manufacturers were rated No. 1 in multiple states.
Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 in Dearborn, about 8 miles west of Detroit. Ford had previously founded the Henry Ford Motor Co. in 1901, but that soon became the Cadillac Motor Co. when Henry took his name and went his own way. Interestingly, some of the early investors in Ford were the Dodge brothers, who had their own car company, which would later be taken over by Chrysler. Ford was launched with $28,000, which seems an insanely small amount of money to start a car company, even in 1903. Today, one Ford will cost you more.
In the first five years, Ford produced the models A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S, but the company took off with the introduction of the Model T, which could be mass-produced. The Model TT was Ford’s first truck, manufactured in 1908. In 1928, Ford became the first manufacturer to use safety glass in the front windshield. In 1932, the company introduced the V-8 engine. Vroom.
In 1939, Ford introduced the Mercury to compete with GM’s mid-priced models. As for the high-end market, Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922 to compete there. Henry Ford famously said that he needed to pay his workers at least enough that they could afford to buy a Ford.
In 1929, Ford also made a deal with the Soviet Union to produce cars there. And in World War II Ford produced bombers for the U.S. war effort. Automobile innovations continued at the company with the introduction of the Mustang in 1964 (vroom, vroom) and the first seat-belt reminder light in 1965 – though people weren’t really reminded to wear seat belts until the failure to wear one could cost them a summons.
Ford is still headquartered in Dearborn and is the second-largest automaker in the U.S. market, behind GM. Ford is the sixth-largest in the world, trailing Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Stellantis. Today, Ford sells around 2 million vehicles a year in America and the Ford-150 remains the nation’s most popular truck. Ford is second in the CarLogos.org list of 50 most popular car brands in America, behind only Toyota.
And in Michigan, Ford still employs more than 48,000 people. No wonder it’s popular here.
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Author
Joss has over a decade of experience in the US online gambling market. His analysis and writing cover every aspect of the business. After a career as an Army officer, he spent time in business, then took up online poker. Joss lives in Peru with his family. Joss is globally considered one of the leading voices in the gambling industry, especially North American sports betting.
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