These Are The Cars That Defined The 2010s

The Electric Vehicle. The 2010s are when EVs - and particularly Teslas - went from being weird little one off cars driven by eccentric University profs to mainstream vehicles you see every day and that people legitimately live with. I can’t think of a more seismic shift in the automotive landscape - at least in my lifetime.

So, if forced to pick a representative, I’d say the Tesla 3. Or maybe the S.

Submitted by: TheWalrus

And...

I would say Tesla. Those things were suddenly everywhere.

Submitted by: joykill

The CUV be it the RAV4, CR-V, CX-5, etc... Many existed before the 2010's but in the 2010's they proliferated like crazy and by the end of the decade many were their brands top selling models. They effectively killed off all but a few niche wagons and hatches. In my opinion it was their decade, big trucks and SUV’s thrived as well but the CUV really took over the heart of the market sedans had held and in the past few years have killed off many of them. The 2010's, when the CUV ruled the earth.

Submitted by: CitronC

And...

A CUV in any color as long as it’s white, grey, or black

Submitted by: notbunnies

And another...

The 2010s were the start of the death of all cars worth owning as an enthusiast and relaced with the white and silver army of small SUVs.

Submitted by: boneheadotto

Tesla is a good choice, but you missed the obvious choice.

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This was the car that showed even Tesla had to make a crossover. And if nothing else, the 2010s were the rise of the crossover SUV.

Submitted by: Drg84

Hot Hatches. At least from an enthusiast perspective. The MK 6 GTI was just unveiled and the Focus ST and Fiesta were released. Not long after those 3, the Focus RS, FK8 Civic Type R, MK7 GTi/Golf R, and the Veloster N took the spotlight. Hot hatches were everywhere, especially the Focus ST and MK 6/7 GTI. Seemed like every publication were doing comparison tests every month to see which one was the king of the hill. There was no other time in the US that we got so many different hot hatches from different brands and price ranges than the 2010s. The 2010s, IMO, is the decade of the hot hatch.

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Submitted by: mountainbikingandtrackdays

Ford Raptor. It was as awesome as it was frivolous. That they released it in the midst of the Great Recession and it was still a huge hit was an important step in everyone acknowledging how little sense the world makes.

Submitted by: Mosko

And...

Ford Raptor.

Unleashed in 2010, it’s spawned dozens of gigantic copycats since. Some of which are other Fords, some are actually capable badass trucks, nearly all can be seen at your local Starbucks.

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Submitted by: dolsh

I’m going to cheat a bit here since it wasn’t the first vehicle to feature this styling and the first model year was 2009, but I think the BMW X6 influenced and defined the SUV “coupe” craze of the 2010's that every luxury and, eventually, mass-market manufacturer shoveled out to the throngs of people that wanted a station wagon all along but didn’t want to admit it. The X6 basically created a consumer segment that didn’t exist, no one asked for, nor did it fill an unmet need. Well, that is unless you consider that unmet need to be more “style” at the expense of cargo space at a higher price. Then yeah, mission accomplished. Thanks BMW.I’m going to cheat a bit here since it wasn’t the first vehicle to feature this styling and the first model year was 2009, but I think the BMW X6 influenced and defined the SUV “coupe” craze of the 2010's that every luxury and, eventually, mass-market manufacturer shoveled out to the throngs of people that wanted a station wagon all along but didn’t want to admit it. The X6 basically created a consumer segment that didn’t exist, no one asked for, nor did it fill an unmet need. Well, that is unless you consider that unmet need to be more “style” at the expense of cargo space at a higher price. Then yeah, mission accomplished. Thanks BMW.

Submitted by: paeadsecar

And...

The SUV-Coupe first appeared in the 2010's

BMW X6 and the M-B GLC, among others

These just prove how hypocritical American’s are - We want the ride height and AWD capability of an SUV, but the style of a coupe so we can pretend we aren’t turning into our parents, and we don’t care how ugly, impractical and inefficient the end results are.

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Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I

Ever more ridiculously roided out SUVs and Trucks really. And Bug Out Mobiles, where preppers took already roided out trucks and made them look downright Mad Maxian.

Submitted by: skeffles

Chevy Tahoe, white: The official Karenmobile.

Submitted by: jackywacky

Luxury pickups started in the 2000s, but 2010-2019 they went from being a Ram/Silverado/F150 with leather to full fledged luxury vehicles.

Submitted by: Levi1922

To me the Chevy Volt is the car that comes to mind as representative of that era. People were still reeling from high gas prices, and GM was trying it’s hardest to shake its image as the maker of bloated SUVs like the Hummer H2. The Volt offered GM an opportunity to try something new when something new was exactly what was needed.

Submitted by: highwaytoheaven

The R35 GT-R.

It’s the first generation of the legend that we received in the USA. And boy did it live up to the expectations by destroying everything it was compared against. Nissan didn’t change the body much during the 2010s, so it’s largely looked the same, but with incremental improvements every few years.

I still go ape-shit when I see one in the wild. As time has passed, I’ve finally realized that the R35 is a true successor to the R34.

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Submitted by: put-some-turbo-on-meeeee

the 2010s was a time of serious transitions the early 2010s we were just out of a recession so there were a lot of small economy cars on the market even FCA/Stellantis brought Fiat to the USA for the first time in several decades! However by the end of the decade many automakers stopped selling small cars altogether. If i had to pick a single vehicle that defined the 2010s it would be the Toyota Rav4 because the amount of growth in sales for that car is absolutely astounding. 400,000 sales globally in 2010 to nearly a million sales annually in 2019. The rav4 went from being a popular car to absolutely prolific.

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Submitted by: bassracerx

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I say the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross. What better way to represent an entire decade characterized by the CUV revolution - so much so, that it meant the killing off many cars - than with a CUV name after a killed off car?

Submitted by: disadvantage

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Evolution ended here.

Every single car produced after this ended, is SHIT.

Submitted by: Rollo75