Have you ever found yourself wondering just how big the average vehicle is? While you might expect to see big differences between the average length and width of cars, trucks, and SUVs, the answer might surprise you!
I spent hours gathering data from 18 different vehicle manufacturers spanning every vehicle class to get to find the answer to this question!
The average modern vehicle is 75 inches (6.25 feet) wide and 197.9 inches (16.5 feet) long. This average represents all vehicle classes and body styles, including sedans, trucks, and SUVs.
Note: The data used in this research is from the 2022 base models of every vehicle in the survey. The full list of vehicles can be seen at the bottom.
Average Vehicle Width by Body Style
After crunching the numbers, I found the following:
The average width for a modern vehicle is 75 inches (6.25 feet). This average represents all vehicle classes and body styles, including sedans, trucks, and SUVs.
With that overall average in mind, let’s take a look at the average by body style.
| Body Style | Average Width |
| Sedan | 72.4 inches |
| SUV | 75.8 inches |
| Truck | 77.7 inches |
| Combined | 75.0 inches |
As you can see from the table above, sedans are the narrowest vehicles with an average of 72.4 inches. SUVs were found to be the second widest at 75.8 inches, followed finally by trucks at an average width of 77.7 inches.
While there is a clear difference between body styles, it’s actually not that large from a percentage difference!
To put it into perspective:
- Sedans are 4.6% (3.4 inches) narrower than trucks, and 7.1% (5.3 inches) narrower than SUVs
- SUVs are 2.3% (1.9 inches) narrower on average than trucks
While it’s not a surprise that sedans are the narrowest vehicle type, the actual difference is smaller than you probably expected!
Given that there are standard things like lane widths and parking spots, it’s not a huge surprise that vehicle widths aren’t that different.
While the statistical averages were quite close, there are more obvious differences when looking at the widest and narrowest vehicles sampled from each style.
Sedan Widths
- Narrowest: Nissan Versa (68.5 inches)
- Widest: Tesla Model S (77.3 inches)
Looking more closely, it becomes more apparent that there are larger differences when it comes to a sedan’s width!
Out of the 53 sampled vehicles, the Nissan Versa was found to be the narrowest while the Tesla Model S was the widest. The difference between the two vehicles was a whopping 8.8 inches!
Given that these two vehicles represent different classes of sedans (subcompact versus full-size), it’s not a surprise that there is a difference. However, 8.8 inches of extra space is SUBSTANTIAL.
SUV Widths
- Narrowest: Subaru Forester (71.5 inches)
- Widest: Tesla Model X (81.5 inches)
Looking at SUV widths, a similar theme continued where there was a large gap between the narrowest and widest model!
The Subaru Forester was found to be the narrowest at 71.5 inches while the Tesla Model X took the top spot for widest at 81.5 inches.
This represents a range of 10 inches between the two.
Truck Widths
- Narrowest: Nissan Frontier (73 inches)
- Widest: Ram 1500 (82.1inches)
Looking at the truck category, the theme continues!
The narrowest truck was the Nissan Frontier at 73 inches, while the widest truck was the Ram 1500 at 82.1 inches for a difference of 9.1 inches.
Average Vehicle Length by Body Style
Although the average vehicle does not differ that much in width, I had a hunch that there would be a bigger difference when it comes to length!
The average modern vehicle has a length of 197.9 inches (16.5 feet). This average represents all vehicle classes and body styles, including sedans, trucks, and SUVs.
| Body Style | Average Length |
| Sedan | 188.4 inches |
| SUV | 189.7 inches |
| Truck | 220.6 inches |
| Combined | 197.9 inches |
While the difference between body styles was smaller for vehicle width, there is a much bigger gap when it comes to vehicle length!
To put it into perspective:
- Sedans are 4.6% (1.3 inches) shorter than trucks, and 7.1% (32.2 inches) shorter than SUVs
- Trucks are 2.3% (30.9 inches) shorter than SUVs
Thinking logically, it makes sense that trucks are the longest body style. Not only do trucks need to have enough cabin space to accommodate 1-2 rows of seats, but they also have long open beds that increase their overall length!
Ignoring the average lengths for a minute, let’s take a closer look at each category to see where the range lies.
Sedan Lengths
- Shortest: Nissan Versa (177 inches)
- Longest: Dodge Charger (198.4 inches)
For sedans, the shortest surveyed vehicle was the Nissan Versa at 177 inches while the longest was the Dodge Charger at 198.4 inches.
This accounts for an overall difference of 21.4 inches (1.8 feet).
SUV Lengths
- Shortest: Jeep Wrangler (166.8 inches)
- Longest: Chevrolet Suburban (225.7 inches)
Looking at the SUV body style, the shortest vehicle surveyed was the Jeep Wrangler at 166.8 inches, while the longest SUV was the Chevrolet Suburban at 225.7 inches.
This accounts for an overall difference of 58.9 inches (4.9 feet)!
This was the most subtantial difference in any category surveyed in this research.
Truck Lengths
- Shortest: Ford F-150 209.1 (inches)
- Longest: Ram 2500 (232 inches)
Looking at the truck body style, the shortest vehicle surveyed was the Ford F-150 at 166.8 inches, while the longest truck was the Ram 2500 at 232 inches.
This accounts for an overall difference of 22.9 inches (1.9 feet).
‘Average’ Vehicle Size Takeaways
When comparing the “average” size for different consumer vehicle body styles there are surprisingly few differences. This is primarily due to the the fact that that each body style has their own array of classes, that when averaged out results in minor differences across body styles.
Not surpringly, trucks do have a significant longer footprint, but this is easily explained by the presence of their open bed.
While size considerations are certainly important to consider when selecting a vehicle, it’s worth noting that the classes within each body type can be changed to fit these needs in most cases.
It’s far more important to consider how you plan to use the vehicle, and choose a body style that suits it first. For example, if you don’t have a lot of space but know that you’ll need to haul equipment, then a truck is most likely your best fit.
From there, you can choose between the respective classes of the body style to ensure the vehicle meets your space requirements e.g. garage space.
Vehicle Source Data
Data gathered for this article was sourced from the manufacturer’s websites using the base 2022 model specifications.
While this is not 100% comprehensive for every single vehicle on the market, it is representative of the most popular vehicles.
Shown below are the specs for the 53 selected vehicles spanning across 18 manufacturers.
| Body Style | Make | Model | Length [in] | Width [in] |
| Sedan | Nissan | Versa | 177 | 68.5 |
| Sedan | Toyota | Prius | 180 | 69.3 |
| Sedan | Toyota | Corolla | 182.3 | 70.1 |
| Sedan | Kia | Forte | 182.7 | 70.9 |
| Sedan | Nissan | Sentra | 182.7 | 71.5 |
| Sedan | Honda | Civic | 183.3 | 70.9 |
| Sedan | Hyundai | Elantra | 184.1 | 71.9 |
| Sedan | Tesla | Model 3 | 184.8 | 72.8 |
| Sedan | BMW | 3series | 185.7 | 71.9 |
| Sedan | Ford | Mustang | 188.9 | 75.4 |
| Sedan | Subaru | Legacy | 190.6 | 72.4 |
| Sedan | Toyota | Camry | 192.1 | 72.4 |
| Sedan | Honda | Accord | 192.2 | 73.3 |
| Sedan | Nissan | Altima | 192.9 | 72.9 |
| Sedan | Hyundai | Sonata | 192.9 | 73.2 |
| Sedan | Kia | K5 | 193.1 | 73.2 |
| Sedan | Volkswagen | Passat | 193.6 | 72.2 |
| Sedan | Chevrolet | Malibu | 194.2 | 73 |
| Sedan | Tesla | Model S | 195.7 | 77.3 |
| Sedan | Dodge | Charger | 198.4 | 75 |
| SUV | Jeep | Wrangler | 166.8 | 73.8 |
| SUV | Mazda | CX-5 | 179.1 | 72.5 |
| SUV | Ford | Escape | 180.5 | 74.1 |
| SUV | Toyota | Rav4 | 180.9 | 73 |
| SUV | Honda | CR-V | 182.1 | 73 |
| SUV | Hyundai | Tucson | 182.3 | 73.4 |
| SUV | Subaru | Forester | 182.7 | 71.5 |
| SUV | Nissan | Rogue | 183 | 72.4 |
| SUV | Chevrolet | Equinox | 183.1 | 72.6 |
| SUV | Volvo | XC60 | 185.4 | 74.9 |
| SUV | Jeep | Grand Cherokee | 189.8 | 76.5 |
| SUV | BMW | X5 | 194.3 | 78.9 |
| SUV | Toyota | Highlander | 194.9 | 76 |
| SUV | Honda | Pilot | 196.5 | 78.6 |
| SUV | Tesla | Model X | 198.3 | 81.5 |
| SUV | Ford | Explorer | 198.8 | 78.9 |
| SUV | Chevrolet | Tahoe | 210.7 | 81 |
| SUV | Chevrolet | Suburban | 225.7 | 81.1 |
| Truck | Ford | F-150 | 209.1 | 79.9 |
| Truck | Nissan | Frontier | 210.2 | 73 |
| Truck | Honda | Ridgeline | 210.2 | 78.6 |
| Truck | Ford | Ranger | 210.8 | 73.3 |
| Truck | Toyota | Tacoma | 212.3 | 75.2 |
| Truck | GMC | Canyon | 212.4 | 74.3 |
| Truck | Chevrolet | Colorado | 212.7 | 74.3 |
| Truck | Jeep | Gladiator | 218 | 73.8 |
| Truck | Nissan | Titan | 228.1 | 79.5 |
| Truck | Toyota | Tundra | 228.9 | 79.9 |
| Truck | Ram | 1500 | 228.9 | 82.1 |
| Truck | Chevrolet | Silverado | 231.7 | 81.24 |
| Truck | GMC | Sierra 1500 | 231.7 | 81.24 |
| Truck | Ford | F-250 | 231.8 | 80 |
| Truck | Ram | 2500 | 232 | 79.4 |
