It’s a tight race for the large crossover SUV sales leader in 2025

Honda has a lot riding on the 2026 Pilot, which now arrives in showrooms as an updated model with a significantly larger (12.3-inch) touchscreen, redesigned alloy wheels, Google Built-in infotainment platform, a standard power liftgate for the first time, and a cabin that’s about 3 decibels quieter than the ’25 model, thanks to new semi-tempered door glass.

The fourth-generation Pilot arrived just two years ago, so Honda’s decision to update this popular SUV so soon after launch says a lot about the vibrant segment in which it competes.

Call it a crossover or an SUV?

Placing the Pilot in a given segment is more difficult than it should be because different automakers and sales data aggregators define segments differently. For example, Wards Intelligence calls the Pilot a large crossover because of its car-based unibody construction alongside the Chevy Traverse, Hyundai Palisade, Kia Telluride, Mazda CX-90, Nissan Pathfinder, Subaru Ascent, Toyota Highlander and Grand Highlander, and VW Atlas.

Pilot, explorer, highlander, telluride, stockade

Yes, most people would call these “SUVs,” but the truth is that they all spend most of their time on the pavement rather than climbing on rocks or fording streams. In many ways, shoppers who can’t handle the idea of ​​owning a minivan are drawn to the roomy Pilot and others like it.

You could also argue that an automaker is best suited to identify its rivals in a given segment, and in the case of the Pilot, Honda tips its hat to the Ford Explorer, Highlander, Telluride and Palisade.

No Jeep Grand Cherokee?

You may have noticed that the Explorer is not considered one of the large crossovers, according to Wards, even though the platform switched from a more robust body-on-frame to unibody in 2011.

Instead, Wards considers the Explorer a midsize SUV, likely due to its status as a groundbreaking SUV that consistently battles the Jeep Grand Cherokee for leadership in that sector. By the way, the Grand Cherokee rides on a unibody platform and is several inches smaller than the others.

Pilot was number 1 in 2024

So what’s happening on the sales front? The Pilot ended 2024 as the No. 1 large crossover in America, with 141,245 deliveries, according to Wards, well ahead of the Telluride, Palisade and Traverse, in that order.

But if you believe the Pilot and Explorer are going head-to-head (separated by just a few inches in overall length), then the Explorer was the clear winner last year, with 194,000 units sold.

Toyota Grand Highlander is starting strong

But a lot has happened this year in terms of three-row utilities. We’ve barely talked about Toyota’s approach of offering a stretched version of the popular Highlander, called the Grand Highlander, arriving in 2024.

It’s taken a while, but it looks like the Grand Highlander will take the No. 1 spot among large crossovers in 2025 after selling more than 125,000 units in November. That growth is likely to come from some of its rivals, but even more directly from the two-row Highlander, whose sales through November were down 40 percent compared to the same period in 2024.

Brand new Palisade-Telluride Tag Team

Meanwhile, the battle for second place is fierce. Honda sold 113,686 Pilots through November, down 11 percent from a year ago. The all-new 2026 Palisade went on sale last summer and has racked up 112,237 deliveries through November, while the Telluride sees 111,123 sales through November. A completely redesigned 2027 Telluride will arrive in early 2026.

Chevy Traverse could take over the segment

Don’t discount the third-generation Chevy Traverse, which arrived last year and sold nearly 104,000 units in September in 2025 (General Motors only reports quarterly results), a 48 percent increase over the same period in 2024. It’s entirely possible that the Traverse will surprise the entire field when the year-end numbers are tallied in a few weeks.

And if you believe the Explorer is indeed competing with all these other unibody cars, it beats them all, with 198,819 deliveries through November.

This explains exactly why Honda wanted to update the Pilot so soon after the launch of the completely redesigned model.

Source: Honda, Wards Intelligence