Pete Ryan for Business Insider
In these divided times, everything is political, from the news we consume to the fast food we binge. But consciously or unconsciously, no consumer choice says "us vs. them" more than what car we choose to drive. To get a sense of how our rides reflect our political leanings, we compared 1.7 million vehicles listed on CarGurus with the results from the 2020 presidential election. We included only counties that were strongly red or blue — those where either Donald Trump or Joe Biden won by at least 19 percentage points. Then we placed every car on a political spectrum from reddest to bluest.
The results were illuminating. The most Republican vehicle in America? The Jeep Wrangler. The second most Republican vehicle? The Jeep Gladiator. And eight of the 10 reddest vehicles are American-made. If you like Trump, you probably like Chevys.
The reverse was true for blue counties. The most Democratic vehicle in America is the Toyota Prius. And eight of the 10 bluest vehicles are foreign-made. If you like Biden, you probably get your oil changed at a VW dealership.
But most interesting of all are the vehicles that appeal to both sides of the political divide. Despite some of its models ranking high with Republicans, the purplest carmaker in America — the one that spans the widest range on the red-blue spectrum — is Jeep. The automaker, it turns out, has made a conscious effort to transcend tribalism and forge a bond with Americans of every political leaning: veterans who drove a Jeep in the Army, soccer moms concerned about space and safety, tree huggers eager to get off-road, MAGA lovers looking for an all-American ride. (Never mind that Jeep is owned by Stellantis, a multinational automotive conglomerate headquartered in Hoofddorp, Netherlands.)
"To develop a culture around an entire brand — it's not luck of the draw," says Ivan Drury, the director of insights for Edmunds, a leading guide for car shoppers. "It takes direction and purpose. What Jeep pulls off is extremely difficult."
It began with the Jeep Wrangler, the brand's most iconic model. First offered for sale in 1987, the Wrangler recalled the glory days of the Greatest Generation, while offering an off-road aesthetic that appealed to red and blue alike. From there, Jeep made sure that drivers could grow up — and grow old — with the brand. Dave Kelleher, a Jeep dealer in swing-state Pennsylvania, has watched customers graduate from Jeep to Jeep as their lifestyles changed. A young man in his 20s might start out in a Wrangler, and a wife and a few kids later he has cycled up through the Grand Cherokee, a larger family car that starts at $38,800, and the Grand Wagoneer, a three-row luxury SUV whose sticker price can soar into the six digits. "The halo of Wrangler brings people into the brand," Kelleher says, "and that DNA is still in every other Jeep they sit in."
Jeep's appeal is so widespread, in fact, that its fans have launched a dizzying array of online clubs and forums, from "Jeep Girls" and "Outlaw Jeep," to "Deep and Dirty Jeep Club." Owners stage Jeep Jamborees all across the country, from the desert of Moab to the mountains of Appalachia. They line the streets of the Toledo Jeep Fest, an annual celebration of the brand in the city where the iconic Wrangler is assembled. And ever since the COVID pandemic, they've started leaving rubber duckies on each other's cars — an inside signal to other drivers that you're both a part of the club. In an age of political extremes, America may be, as Lincoln feared, a house divided. But with enough Jeeps parked in front of the house, perhaps there's still a hope we can remain united.
Text by Mark Healy, founder of Flipturn Creative Studios, and Nora Naughton, BI's senior auto reporter. Data by Andrew Thompson, creator of Components, a cultural research project.
