Ford F-Series Turnaround Picks Up Speed, Ford Beats GM Twins In November 2015

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

In November 2015, for the first time since March, Ford’s F-Series outsold the combined efforts of General Motors’ full-size truck twins in the United States.

November’s results won’t change the fact that 2015 will go down as the first year since 2009 that GM’s Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra will outsell their chief rival on a calendar year basis. Through the first eleven months of 2015, GM has sold 734,253 full-size pickup trucks, 39,110 more than the F-Series’ 695,143-unit total.

But November did mark the continuation of a turnaround for the F-Series, which struggled for much of 2015 in terms of volume because of low F-150 supply. Through the first-half of 2015, F-Series sales were down by more than 2 percent in a booming truck market. F-Series volume then increased in each of the last five months, rising by an average of eight percent over the course of the July-November period.

Indeed, November was the F-Series’ highlight from the second half, as total auto industry volume increased by just 1 percent and overall pickup truck volume grew by just 3 percent. F-Series sales jumped 10 percent to 65,192 units, the fifth consecutive 60,000+ month for the best-selling vehicle line in America.

With one month remaining on the calendar, F-Series sales are up 2 percent. The trucks, which account for three out of every ten Ford Motor Company U.S. sales, are on pace to rise to a nine-year U.S. volume high.

Meanwhile, at General Motors, the Silverado’s 5-percent improvement wasn’t strong enough to cancel out the Sierra’s 27-percent drop. The duo combined for a 6 percent, year-over-year loss.

Total GM pickup truck volume grew 2 percent, however, as the Colorado and Canyon midsize trucks that were just getting off the ground at this time a year ago combined for 8,466 November 2015 sales. The duo’s market share in the midsize category, 31 percent, was obviously far stronger than last November’s 14-percent achievement, but it was down from 32 percent in October, 37 percent in September, and 32 percent in August.

Colorado volume slipped to a ten-month low of 6,230 sales, well below its new-generation high-water mark of 8,881 sales in May. The Canyon’s 2,236-unit November result was similarly the lowest total since January.

This highlights the dominance of the newly launched Toyota Tacoma, which accounted for half of all small/midsize pickup truck sales in America in November 2015. GM doesn’t build nearly as many Colorados and Canyons in a given month as Toyota sells Tacomas, but with interest in the GM twins expected to rise with the arrival of a four-cylinder diesel powerplant, commercial van production may be moved away from Wentzville, Missouri to free up production capacity for the Colorado and Canyon. For Toyota’s part, it plans to turn up the wick on Tacoma production as well.

Non-full-size pickup trucks aren’t attracting the kind of attention they did just a decade ago, but the favourable trend line points in their direction. In 2006, more than 20 percent of U.S. pickup truck buyers chose something other than a full-size truck. Just two years ago, in November 2013, that figure had fallen to just 11 percent. Last month, small/midsize pickup truck market share rose to nearly 14 percent as full-size truck volume grew just one percent.

imothy 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.

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  • Johnny_5.0 Johnny_5.0 on Dec 10, 2015

    I like that Blue Flame color on the F-150. If I had to buy one right now I'd probably want an LTZ Z71 Silverado with the 6.2. You get a great engine and a good 8 speed auto. Ford's habit of separating powertrain upgrades from platform/exterior/interior refreshes can be maddening depending on when you are in the market. The 10 speed will be here soon. The 3.5EB is about to get a big boost (ha!) in output. Just like their inability to do so with the last two generations of Mustangs, it would be nice if they could make the stars align and update everything at once.

    • See 1 previous
    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Dec 10, 2015

      johnny_5.0 - I suspect that separating drivetrain upgrades from body/chassis upgrades is to reduce the number of issues that tend to occur with a whole new model. It also has the desired effect of making people more comfortable with a body/style change since the drivetrain is a carry over and vise versa. I really like the 2015 Silverado but I'm not a fan of the 2016 facelift. I was disappointed but not surprised to see Consumer Reports "Not Recommend" the Silverado due to too many durability issues. Blue Flame is a nice colour but from what I've seen, it shows up scratches too easily.

  • Laserwizard Laserwizard on Dec 14, 2015

    It is laughable when a website that says it speaks the truth about something turns around and is deceptive. Total Recall Motors sycophants like to play the fuzzy math game - first, they claim Brand X and GMC are totally different, but when they want to claim they beat Ford in sales, they add them up as if they were one pickup. TTAC has just done the fuzzy math - nice try, but you fool no one.

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
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