Ford Explorer Ranks Among the Five Most-Considered SUVs in Early 2026

The Ford Explorer helped redefine the family SUV decades ago, putting a greater emphasis on comfortable, road-focused transportation than traditional off-road capability. That formula has since become the norm for millions of American drivers and buyers around the world. Even with an increasingly crowded field of competitors, the Explorer continues to attract plenty of attention from shoppers considering a new SUV.

Kelley Blue Book’s H1 2026 Brand Watch Report puts the Ford Explorer fourth among the SUVs shoppers considered most seriously during the first half of the year. It trailed the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and Toyota 4Runner, while finishing ahead of the fifth-place Honda Pilot.

SUVs as a whole also reached a new high in shopper consideration, with 71 percent of respondents saying they were considering one. That figure was up from 70 percent in the second half of 2025 and 69 percent during the first half of last year.

Looking across all non-luxury vehicles, the Ford F-150 once again claimed the top spot and remained the most-considered pickup. Its consideration score increased by 9 percent compared with H2 2025, giving the F-150 an even wider lead over its rivals.

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 followed the F-150 in second place overall, with the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Toyota 4Runner, Ford Explorer, Toyota Camry, Honda Pilot, GMC Sierra 1500, and Ram 1500 rounding out the top 10.

The Explorer did see its consideration score fall 3 percent from H2 2025. Still, the rankings themselves shifted considerably, with 40 percent of the vehicles in the top 10 changing from the previous report. That suggests shoppers are becoming increasingly flexible about which models make their shortlists.

Kelley Blue Book based the report on responses from more than 6,000 people who said they planned to purchase a new vehicle within the next 12 months.

Ford also performed strongly at the brand level. It ranked second among non-luxury automakers based on the percentage of shoppers considering a new vehicle from the brand. Toyota led the category at 35 percent, down from 36 percent in H1 2025. Ford followed at 28 percent, compared with 29 percent a year earlier.

General Motors took third place with 27 percent, slipping from 29 percent during the first half of 2025.