Cain's Segments: Full-Size Trucks In The Year 2014

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

Pickup trucks soared to their highest total of 2014 during the month of December, climbing 18% to 237,635, equal to 14% of the overall auto industry’s new vehicle volume. Truck sales jumped 6% to 2.3 million in 2014.

• GM twins outsold F-Series in December

• F-Series outsold GM twins in 2014

• Ram makes biggest market share gains

Full-size trucks generated 88.9% of all pickup sales activity in December, down from 90.1% a year ago as General Motors contributed more than 5500 Colorado/Canyon sales to the mix, strengthening the small corner of the market held by small/midsize pickups.

Led by big GM improvements, the full-size sector grew by 30,522 units last month. The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra combined to outsell the Ford F-Series, as it transition to a 2015 F-150, by 6918 units. Joining GM’s surge, Ram P/U sales shot up 32% to 44,222 units, making December the third month in 2014 that Ram sales shot beyond the 40K mark.

TruckDec.2014Dec.2013%Change20142013%ChangeFord F-Series 74,35574,592-0.3%753,851763,402-1.3%Chevrolet Silverado57,83742,59335.8%529,755480,41410.3%Ram P/U44,22233,40532.4%439,789355,67323.7%GMC Sierra23,43617,85431.3%211,833184,38914.9%Toyota Tundra10,51910,988-4.3%118,493112,7325.1%Nissan Titan8691284-32.3%12,52715,691-20.2%—— —————Total211,238180,71616.9%2,066,2481,912,3018.1%

Over the course of 2014, the F-Series outsold the GM twins by 12,263 units. Predictably, Ford suffered market share losses. Perhaps less predictably, it was Ram and not GM which managed to eat up the larger chunk of Ford’s lost share. Ford’s share of the full-size category slid by more than three percentage points; Ram picked up slightly less than three percentage points.

TruckDec.2014ShareDec.2013Share2014Share2013ShareFord F-Series35.2%41.3%36.5%39.9%Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra38.5%33.4%35.9%34.8%Ram P/U20.9%18.5%21.3%18.6%Toyota Tundra5.0%6.1%5.7%5.9%Nissan Titan0.4%0.7%0.6%0.8%—————Full-Size Share Of Total Pickup Truck Market88.9%90.1%89.1%87.9%Full-Size Pickup Share Of Total Industry14.0%13.3%12.5%12.3%

GM’s market share improved more noticeably at the end of the year, however. In December, for example, GM’s share of the full-size truck market jumped from 33.4% to 38.5%, year-over-year.

What impact can smaller trucks have in 2015? Will Ford be forced to incentivize their aluminum-intensive F-150 in order to hold its position? Will fuel economy be a concern by the second-half of 2015 as it was in the first-half of 2014? Might Toyota see its revamped-but-not-all-new Tundra stumble as the market expands? Can a new Nissan Titan make headway?

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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  • Vulpine Vulpine on Jan 07, 2015

    I can hardly wait for the gas prices to jump higher than they ever have before; and you know they will. It's just a matter of time. When they do, all these Road Whales will be headed for the used car lots and down to Mexico while the market falls through the floor due to their abysmal fuel mileage. When that happens, those South American compacts are going to start looking pretty good.

  • OldWingGuy OldWingGuy on Jan 07, 2015

    I get that as gas prices fall, more people tend to purchase less fuel efficient vehicles (unwisely perhaps, but it's a free country). I believe I read on this site that Texas is the State with highest truck sales. Texas must be hard hit by the low oil price. Things in the oil patch are slowing up.

  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
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