Cain's Segments: Full-Size Pickup Trucks – October 2014 YTD

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

Overall pickup truck sales jumped 10.1% in the United States in October 2014 as six full-size nameplates collectively grew 9.5%. Growth in the overall truck world was aided by 2158 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon sales (up from 34 a year ago), a 1326-unit improvement from the Nissan Frontier, and the Toyota Tacoma’s 5% increase.

But the real money is made with the big boys. Ford predictably lost market share with its F-Series in October as the lineup’s core F-150 model changes over to an all-new model for MY2015. GM’s twins, the Silverado and Sierra, outsold the F-Series for a third consecutive month and expanded their market share to 36.5% from 36.1% a year ago.

TruckOctober2014October2013%Change10 mos.201410 mos.2013%ChangeFord F-Series63,41063,803-0.6%620,447623,309-0.5%Chevrolet Silverado46,96642,66010.1%429,119403,4356.4%Ram P/U39,83429,84633.5%359,702292,63322.9%GMC Sierra18,56416,50312.5%165,853152,1739.0%Toyota Tundra9,5259,913-3.9%98,39491,7347.3%Nissan Titan9909840.6%10,68613,227-19.2%—— —————Total179,289163,7099.5%1,684,2011,576,5116.8%

Yet Ram’s 33.5% year-over-year increase in volume meant far more in terms of increased market share, as the Chrysler Group’s pickup range climbed four full percentage points compared with October of last year. The Nissan Titan held steady at a fairly inconsequential 0.6% – even Toyota Tundra sales are 10 times stronger than the Titan’s in a month when Tundra volume slid 3.9%.

As a group, full-size trucks accounted for 14% of all new vehicle sales in October. That’s up from 11.8% in the first half of 2014, 11.8% in July, 12.2% in August, and 13.9% in September.

TruckOctober2014ShareOctober2013Share10 mos. 2014 Share10 mos. 2013ShareFord F-Series35.4%39.0%36.8%39.5%Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra36.5%36.1%35.3%35.2%Ram P/U22.2%18.2%21.4%18.6%Toyota Tundra5.3%6.1%5.8%5.8%Nissan Titan0.6%0.6%0.6%8.1%—————Full-Size Share Of Total Pickup Truck Market88.8%89.3%89.2%87.6%Full-Size Pickup Share Of Total Industry14.0%13.6%12.3% 12.1%

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.

Timothy Cain
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  • Nicholas Weaver Nicholas Weaver on Nov 04, 2014

    Gah, posted a nice reply on the impressions on the new F150, the silly spam filter ate it....

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    • Nicholas Weaver Nicholas Weaver on Nov 05, 2014

      @Dan It felt nice and open to me, a nice low beltline (the armrest in the door is right along the base of the window). It felt about the same to me, but it has been months since I testdrove the 2014 F150. It does feel a bit airier than a Silverado. OTOH, I'm comparing it to the tight cockpit of an S2000, ANYTHING is airy compared to my daily driver with the top up.

  • Lie2me Lie2me on Nov 05, 2014

    I know, WordPress sucks, but thanks for your feedback

  • Theflyersfan The wheel and tire combo is tragic and the "M Stripe" has to go, but overall, this one is a keeper. Provided the mileage isn't 300,000 and the service records don't read like a horror novel, this could be one of the last (almost) unmodified E34s out there that isn't rotting in a barn. I can see this ad being taken down quickly due to someone taking the chance. Recently had some good finds here. Which means Monday, we'll see a 1999 Honda Civic with falling off body mods from Pep Boys, a rusted fart can, Honda Rot with bad paint, 400,000 miles, and a biohazard interior, all for the unrealistic price of $10,000.
  • Theflyersfan Expect a press report about an expansion of VW's Mexican plant any day now. I'm all for worker's rights to get the best (and fair) wages and benefits possible, but didn't VW, and for that matter many of the Asian and European carmaker plants in the south, already have as good of, if not better wages already? This can drive a wedge in those plants and this might be a case of be careful what you wish for.
  • Jkross22 When I think about products that I buy that are of the highest quality or are of great value, I have no idea if they are made as a whole or in parts by unionized employees. As a customer, that's really all I care about. When I think about services I receive from unionized and non-unionized employees, it varies from C- to F levels of service. Will unionizing make the cars better or worse?
  • Namesakeone I think it's the age old conundrum: Every company (or industry) wants every other one to pay its workers well; well-paid workers make great customers. But nobody wants to pay their own workers well; that would eat into profits. So instead of what Henry Ford (the first) did over a century ago, we will have a lot of companies copying Nike in the 1980s: third-world employees (with a few highly-paid celebrity athlete endorsers) selling overpriced products to upper-middle-class Americans (with a few urban street youths willing to literally kill for that product), until there are no more upper-middle-class Americans left.
  • ToolGuy I was challenged by Tim's incisive opinion, but thankfully Jeff's multiple vanilla truisms have set me straight. Or something. 😉
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