GM Sold 124,000 More Pickup Trucks Than Ford In The First Three Quarters Of 2015

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

Not since 2009 has General Motors ended a calendar year with more total pickup truck sales than Ford. Moreover, not since 2009 have General Motors’ full-size pickup trucks, combined, outsold the Ford F-Series.

As GM’s current generation of pickup trucks overcame their slow start and GM added midsize pickup trucks to their fleet – and as Ford entered a transition phase between old F-150 and new aluminum-bodied F-150s – 2014’s results were close. Yet even in those circumstances, Ford Motor Company sold 1,000 more pickup trucks than General Motors in the United States last year.

2015 is very, very different. As Ford gradually ramped up F-150 availability for much of the year and as the clear-out of remaining last-gen models ended, total F-Series sales slid 2.4 percent through the first half of this year. Meanwhile, GM’s full-size twins are stealing market share, not just from the F-Series, but from the Ram P/U range, as well.

By the end of the third quarter, GM reported a 14 percent year-to-date increase in full-size truck sales in a full-size truck category that’s up just 6 percent. In addition, GM also sold nearly 86,000 Chevrolet Colorados and GMC Canyons, a small figure by full-size standards, but equal to 32 percent market share in a small/midsize category that grew 47 percent so far this year.

Throw the Chevrolet and GMC foursome together, add 10 leftover Avalanche and Escalade EXT sales into the mix, and General Motors sold 688,225 pickup trucks in the U.S. during the first nine months of 2015. That represents a 30 percent year-over-year volume increase, an increase in pickup truck market share from 31 percent in 2014’s first three-quarters to 37 percent this year, and 123,774 more total pickup truck sales than Ford managed in the same time period.

Nearly have that new Ranger, ready, Dearborn?

To what degree Ford is concerned by the major gap in total U.S. pickup truck volume is something of an unknown due to three key factors.

First, pickup average transaction prices are shooting through the roof, so while Ford has returned to a No. 2 position in the truck arena, the latest generation of trucks can clearly still be Ford’s key profit generator.

As for the No. 2 position, GM’s sales split — 26 percent of GM’s full-size sales come from the GMC Sierra — means Ford’s F-Series is still the top-selling pickup truck line in America, 123,547 sales ahead of the Chevrolet Silverado through the end of September, and with that status comes the ability to advertise that status.

And third, the F-Series is recovering rapidly in the second half of the year. Third quarter F-Series volume jumped eight percent, a gain of 16,059 units. The F-Series trailed the GM full-size twins by nearly 19,000 sales between July and September, but Ford managed to produce its two best months of the year in August and September.

Back at General Motors, the pickup success has proven all the more vital because of the downturn experienced across the rest of the automaker’s lineup. Non-pickup truck sales at GM are down four percent, a loss of more than 66,000 sales created largely by the car division’s 15 percent drop.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.

Timothy Cain
Timothy Cain

More by Timothy Cain

Comments
Join the conversation
6 of 50 comments
  • Dave M. Dave M. on Oct 12, 2015

    Kudos to Chevy/GM...their truck is a traditional model with a myriad of configurations. While the Chevy does little for me, the GM is a great, relatively conservative design...far better than anything else on the market IMO. Not sure why they had to rush a remodel since the current models are doing well - certainly with strong incentives but they're still making money.

    • See 1 previous
    • Manwithnoname Manwithnoname on Oct 31, 2015

      I see the remodel as a way to keep the product fresh to avoid the situation Ram is in right now. I have a hard time distinguishing a 2013 Ram 1500 from a 2016 model. The lack of fresh features, styling, etc. makes it tough for dealers to keep transaction prices up. With a styling refresh, GM can perhaps bring in a decent crowd of owners of 2014's that want to trade in for the latest styling. I'm sure the ability to pair the 5.3 V8 with the new 8-speed will help sell trucks too. It may also buy GM time to roll out their aluminum body strategy. FCA is planning a major half-ton refresh in 2017. I'm surpised they've waited as long as they have, but when you look at Toyota and Nissan's half-ton efforts, perhaps the product cycle looks more reasonable.

  • DenverMike DenverMike on Oct 13, 2015

    The F-series will remain the most profitable pickups, which I think is the bottom line here. That's even when combining Silverado and Sierra pre tax profits. Except a large part of GM's current fullsize pickup sales success is lost F-150 fleet sales, down about 50%. GM's midsize twins can only help erode the extremely vital profitability of the Silverado/Sierra.

    • See 1 previous
    • DenverMike DenverMike on Oct 13, 2015

      @Carlson Fan autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/11/top-12-most-profitable-vehicles.html Last 20+ years running. You're welcome.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next