U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Vehicle Technologies Office
Fact #366: April 4, 2005
All-Wheel Drive – A Popular Feature on New Cars
Car manufacturers are making more models with all-wheel drive (AWD). This became a popular feature for cars in the early 1900s, but by model year (MY) 1999 only 10 car models offered AWD. In MY 2005, the number of car models with AWD is five times what it was in 1999.
Number of Car Models with AWD, 1985–2005 (excludes light trucks) 
Supporting Information
Number of Car Models with AWD, 1985–2005 (excludes light trucks)
| Model Year |
Number of
Models |
| 1985 |
2 |
| 1986 |
3 |
| 1987 |
7 |
| 1988 |
12 |
| 1989 |
15 |
| 1990 |
24 |
| 1991 |
24 |
| 1992 |
20 |
| 1993 |
16 |
| 1994 |
15 |
| 1995 |
13 |
| 1996 |
14 |
| 1997 |
14 |
| 1998 |
13 |
| 1999 |
10 |
| 2000 |
13 |
| 2001 |
17 |
| 2002 |
22 |
| 2003 |
29 |
| 2004 |
41 |
| 2005 |
50 |
|
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data, 2005 |
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