I was crawling over a snow-covered trail in a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Hard Rock the same day the final 2014 U.S. car/truck sales results were announced from Detroit.

Jeep showed the largest sales jump among all makes in the country – from 490,454 units the previous year to 692,348, a 41 percent increase. The Wrangler, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee accounted for almost 80 percent of the Jeep total.

Ram, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Audi followed with 28, 25, 21 and 15 percent, respectively, behind Jeep’s 41 percent gain.

The Ford F-series, with 753,851 sales, was the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for the 32^nd consecutive year and the top-selling pickup for the 43^rd straight year. Other category leaders were the Toyota Camry among cars with 428,606 sales, the Honda CR-V among SUVs with 335,019 and the Chrysler Town & Country among vans with 138,040 sales.

Ford said if all the F-series trucks sold last year were parked bumper-to-bumper, they would stretch from Los Angeles to New York City, with 50 miles to spare.

The weather was ideal (for a Jeep, anyway) the week I spent with the Wrangler; below-freezing cold and lots of snow. I engaged low range to access one steep, snow-covered hill and again in the descent of that hill. The two-door Wrangler’s wheelbase (only 95.4 inches), short overhangs and tight turn radius lend opportunity to successfully tackle most any type terrain. Jeep is protective of Wrangler’s stiff frame/body and offroad ways, even as those 4wd qualities and stiff suspension are detriments to a better ride in town and on the highway.

The Rubicon is equipped with red tow hooks in front and back, as well as removable end wings on the front bumper for increased access in rugged territory and BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain LT 255/75R17 tires.

Moving the Wrangler about is a 3.6-liter V-6 engine (285 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque) with 6-speed manual transmission. It’s not overly powerful, yet easily outperforms Jeep’s former 3.8-liter V-6 in acceleration and torque. The Wrangler carries an EPA fuel mileage estimate of 17/21; I averaged 16.9 miles per gallon.

Interior highlights with the Hard Rock package are an Alpine nine-speaker audio system with all-weather subwoofer and UConnect voice command with Bluetooth, along with heated leather front seats with embroidered logos, black leather-wrapped steering wheel and quick silver HVAC accents.

I remember back in 1994 driving a new Wrangler with one of those tall manual floor shifters, priced at less than $15,000.

Sticker on the ’15 Rubicon Hard Rock edition was $39,255, including heavy-duty front and rear axles, skid plates for transfer case and fuel tank, all-weather slush mats, power windows/locks/mirrors, rear window wiper/washer/defroster.

Base price for a 2015 Wrangler 4×4 is $21,695, with a soft top.

Following are sales leaders of new cars, SUVs, trucks and vans in the U.S. in 2014:

CARS

• Toyota Camry              428,606
• Honda Accord             388,374
• Toyota Corolla/Matrix   339,498
• Nissan Altima              335,644
• Honda Civic                325,981
• Ford Fusion                 306,860
• Chevrolet Cruze           273,060
• Hyundai Elantra           222,023
• Ford Focus                   219,634
• Hyundai Sonata            216,936
• Toyota Prius                208,372
• Chevrolet Malibu         188,519
• Nissan Sentra               183,268
• Volkswagen Jetta         160,873
• Kia Optima                  159,020
• Kia Soul                       145,316
• BMW 3/4 series           142,232
• Chevrolet Impala         140,280
• Nissan Versa                139,781
• Subaru Outback          138,790
• Chrysler 200                117,363
• Mazda3                         104,985

SUVs

• Honda CR-V                 335,019
• Ford Escape                  306,212
• Toyota RAV4                267,698
• Chevrolet Equinox       242,242
• Ford Explorer              209,994
• Nissan Rogue               199,199
• Jeep Grand Cherokee  183,768
• Jeep Cherokee             178,508
• Jeep Wrangler              175,328
• Subaru Forester            159,593
• Toyota Highlander       146,127
• Ford Edge                     108,864
• Honda Pilot                  108,857
• Hyundai Santa Fe        107,906
• Lexus RX                       107,490
• GMC Terrain                 105,016
• Chevrolet Traverse      103,943
• Kia Sorento                   102,520

TRUCKS

• Ford F-series                753,851
• Chevrolet Silverado    529,755
• Ram                              439,789
• GMC Sierra                  211,833
• Toyota Tacoma            155,041
• Toyota Tundra             118,493
• Nissan Frontier             74,323
• Honda Ridgeline          13,389
• Nissan Titan                 12,527

VANS

• Chrysler Town & Country  138,040
• Dodge Grand Caravan 134,152
• Toyota Sienna             124,502
• Honda Odyssey          122,738
• Ford E-series                88,896
• Chevrolet Express        79,352
• Ford Transit Connect   43,210
• Nissan NV                     28,275
• GMC Savana                 26,641
• Mercedes Sprinter        25,745
• Ram ProMaster             18,039
• Kia Sedona                     14,567
• Mazda5                            11,613
• Nissan Quest                   9,833