Midland,MI

Midland, MI
Population: 41,000

I really wanted to conduct some studies on Midland. This city in mid-Michigan is surrounded by woods and countryside, with no major suburbs.There are many newer subdivisions farther out, most of which are still located within the city limits, and there are well-maintained older neighborhoods close to downtown. It is small enough to get a good picture of the market without too much effort, but still a significant city economically.
What really makes Midland interesting is that it was put on the map by Dow Chemicals. The whole city is pretty much centered around the one company. In most cases, it's an auto company that a Michigan city is built around.Not so in Midland. This means people aren't beholden to one car company and have a little more freedom in terms of their purchasing decisions.
Midland is also "Middle America". Middle class, conservative, and modest.Family and faith are the big values here. Flashiness is not widespread.
One thing I noticed about Midland is that it vastly differs from the Detroit area when it comes to certain cars. Dodge chargers are pretty common in the Detroit region. In Midland, Chargers seem very elusive. Ford Fusions also seem to be pretty slow to catch on.
Another interesting observation is the large presence of older vehicles. 1990s-era Blazers and Jimmys still serve drivers everyday.Older Buicks are plentiful as well. My guess is that these are short-distance commuters that don't leave the city much, so the mileage is lower.
The trend continues of Chrysler vans (all models and generations lumped together) and Chevrolet full-sized pickups (excluding those with clearly visible GMC badging) being most common, but that is to be expected with this towns more traditional lifestyle.And, it IS Michigan, so imports are not the biggest hits here. The Camry or Accord look like the 2 top imports, but both are about as common as each other so I can't declare 1 the winner.
We are getting a picture of the most common cars in Midland and at this point I can make an unofficial list of the "Likely" top 5.

1. Chrysler vans
2. Chevrolet full-sized pickups.
3. Ford F-series
4. Chevrolet Impala
5. Buick Lesabre

I will be looking at a few other locations in Michigan just to see how some of the observed cars differ from 1 city to the next, but I will be looking outside of the state soon, too. I expect some noticeably different findings once I study the traffic/scenery in other states. Thats the whole point of this site.