Survey: What Do Americans Love About Pickups?

Month after month, sales numbers prove Americans' love of pickup trucks; they consistently rank as the top-selling vehicles. Chevrolet decided to take a deeper dive into our national obsession with pickups by commissioning Harris Poll to conduct a survey aimed at discovering how pickup owners feel about their trucks. The results are now in.

The survey looked at whether U.S. pickup owners love their trucks, how they use them to help others and if they name them. The answers won't surprise you, but they're fun to share.

Harris Poll found that 27 percent of owners name their pickups, and the most popular names are Betsy and Big Red. Additionally, almost 90 percent of owners reported that they use their pickups to help others, almost 60 percent consider their pickup to be part of the family and almost half of all survey takers plan to pass their current pickup truck along to a child or loved one. Here are more specific numbers:

How Do Pickup Truck Owners Use Their Trucks?

• 89 percent have used them to help others
• 33 percent have towed the cars of family or friends
• 33 percent have used their pickups to support school, community or charitable efforts

How Does a Pickup Fit Into Families?

• 57 percent of respondents consider their pickup to be part of the family
• 45 percent plan to pass their pickup along to a loved one
• 38 percent love their pickup more than any other belonging
• 60 percent said they "can't live without" their pickup

What Real-Life Events Have Happened in a Pickup?

• 26 percent learned to drive in a pickup
• 10 percent brought a baby home from the hospital in a pickup
• 9 percent experienced their first kiss in a pickup

How Does Owning a Pickup Affect Image?

• 38 percent think driving a pickup increases their attractiveness
• 37 percent think driving a pickup increases their popularity

On behalf of Chevrolet, Harris Poll conducted this online survey of 1,012 adults 18 and older who were pickup truck owners between March 20 and April 3, 2018. The survey oversampled in Texas, California and Florida.

Cars.com photos by Mark Williams