RWD, FWD or AWD: how car drivetrains changed since the 1920s
Which share of new car generations was offered with rear-wheel, front-wheel or all-wheel drive, decade by decade. A generation offered with several layouts counts in each of them, so shares can add up to more than 100%.
Key findings
- In the 1920s, 100% of car generations were offered with rear-wheel drive.
- Front-wheel drive reached 41% by the 2010s.
- All-wheel drive is offered on 57.6% of 2020s generations — the most common layout today.
Data table
| Decade | Generations | Rear-wheel drive | Front-wheel drive | All-wheel drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 10 | 100.0% (10) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) |
| 1930s | 13 | 76.9% (10) | 15.4% (2) | 7.7% (1) |
| 1950s | 56 | 89.3% (50) | 5.4% (3) | 5.4% (3) |
| 1960s | 124 | 92.7% (115) | 6.5% (8) | 0.8% (1) |
| 1970s | 106 | 86.8% (92) | 10.4% (11) | 3.8% (4) |
| 1980s | 71 | 60.6% (43) | 26.8% (19) | 18.3% (13) |
| 1990s | 112 | 44.6% (50) | 34.8% (39) | 25.0% (28) |
| 2000s | 188 | 31.9% (60) | 34.0% (64) | 37.2% (70) |
| 2010s | 322 | 21.7% (70) | 41.0% (132) | 48.1% (155) |
| 2020s | 177 | 31.1% (55) | 39.0% (69) | 57.6% (102) |
Methodology
Drive layouts come from the generation record and its versions. All-wheel drive includes part-time four-wheel drive (4WD). Share = generations offered with the layout ÷ generations of that decade with any known layout.
Passenger cars only: trucks, buses and vans are excluded (the same rule as our rankings).
Decades with fewer than 8 generations are not shown; the table gives the number of generations behind every figure.
Values come from the 1CARS catalog. Part of the specifications are extracted from our articles and not yet checked by an editor; obvious outliers are excluded. Figures describe the cars in our catalog, not the whole market.
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit “1CARS” and link to this page. License terms.