Detroit's cars rule the heartland, but not the coasts

DETROIT — In the heartland, American cars rule, a new survey finds. On the coasts, it's import models.

In fact, San Francisco and nearby San Jose have the strongest preference for both Asian and European car models, and the least interest in models from Detroit's Big 3, says the survey conducted by CarGurus.com, a Cambridge, Mass.-based online car shopping information site.

At least metro Detroit is loyal to those Big 3. It's the town where interest is highest in models from General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler, followed by heartland bastions such as Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.

At the same time, Detroiters are also the least likely to drive Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Subaru or Mitsubishi models, which account for 15% of the local market. Detroit is the only out of 51 metro areas where Japanese automakers have less than 29%.

CarGurus surveyed dealers over the past month, comparing share of interest by brand (American, European and Asian) in each metro area. Metro areas were ranked according to the percentage of total inquiries submitted on listings of American brand cars versus Asian and European cars.