Chevrolet, GMC Pickup Truck Sales Top Ford’s
Thanks to some amazing deals, Americans are parking more brand-new pickups in their driveways from Chevy and GMC.
With August creeping up around the corner, we’ve already made it halfway through 2018. And when it comes to our favorite subject, trucks, General Motors continues to triumph tall over the Blue Oval. During the first six months of the year, GM sold 478,671 trucks (up 12% from last year) compared to Ford’s lesser 451,138 F-Series (a 5% increase), according to a recent Kelly Blue Book study. This also puts GM ahead of the total U.S. pickup truck market share with a 34% share over Ford’s 32%, as determined in a Seeking Alpha report.
Let’s break these numbers down even more. The total number of trucks sold by GM includes all light-duty, midsize, and heavy-duty models. Apart from a plethora of Silverados and Sierras–heavy-duty and not–strong sales of the midsize Canyon and Colorado helped GM sell nearly 27,000 new trucks. However, when it comes to total market share for only full-size pickup trucks, Ford sits in first place with a 39% holding over GM’s 33.9%. So, for simplified bragging rights, Chevy and GMC have sold more trucks than Ford, but that’s because Ford only builds the F-series at this time.
GM has the total-sales crown here, with its proven “three-truck strategy.” Since 2015, both Chevrolet and GMC have been the only manufacturers–domestic and foreign–to offer three levels of pickup trucks in its lineups. This is a huge advantage over Ford and Ram, allowing GM to easily sell an astonishing 948,909 trucks last year (Ford’s year-end tally was 896,764).
“On a volume basis, we’ve sold more pickups than the F-series over the past four years in a row, and that continues through this year,” GM spokesman Jim Cain told the Detroit Free Press. Rewind back 10 years ago to a different time where Dodge sold a Dakota and Ford the Ranger. The small pickup market became a silent ghost town when the Ranger and Dakota faded away in 2011, leaving only the Colorado and Canyon to persevere.
‘On a volume basis, we’ve sold more pickups than the F-series over the past four years in a row, and that continues through this year.’
What about Ram? According to Kelly Blue Book, sales are down 7%, as only 233,539 new Rams were sold during the same timeframe. Presumably, those numbers just cannot and will not catch up anytime soon.
But GM must remain vigilant, because these market share numbers will change as the truck war rages on into 2019 and beyond. This “three-truck strategy” will be mainstream across the board as Jeep plans to introduce a Wrangler-based pickup and Ford has scheduled a new Ranger to arrive next year. A highly-anticipated truck from Jeep along with rumors of a midsize Ram work truck (hopefully badged as a Dakota for nostalgia’s sake) would surely bring FCA’s sliver of the pickup truck market up to a grander slice of it. While arguably late to the game, Ford’s new Ranger plans to win the hearts of American “small” truck buyers again and shake things up with a “three-truck strategy” of its own.
Expect things in the truck market to shake up a bit this fall when the redesigned 2019 Silverado and Sierra begin to arrive on dealer lots. Combine Ford’s release of the new Ranger and an all-new Wrangler-based pickup from Jeep that fanboys are sure to happily open their wallets for, and 2019 might pan out to be a monumental battle in American truck land.