Using data from a private auto information service, Strategic Vision, we looked at car purchases by income.

For the chart above, we grouped the numerous car types into three catch-all categories: luxury, utility and economy. Luxury cars include near-luxury utilities, luxury pickups, luxury utilities, premium coupes, near-luxury cars, luxury cars, luxury multi-function vehicles and premium convertibles/roadsters. Economy cars include small cars, small multi-function cars, mid-size cars, mid-size multi-function cars, large cars, specialty coupes and convertibles. Utility vehicles include compact pickups, full-size pickups, minivans, full-size passenger vans, full-size cargo vans, entry utilities, mid-size traditional utilities, large utilities, heavy-duty pickup and mid-size crossover utilities.

Income was broken into $5,000 segments up to the $75,001 – $80,000 bracket, when the brackets start to encompass larger slices of incomes.

The data revealed that people who make up to $35,000 prefer small cars to any other specific car type.