Chart Of The Day: 2015's First-Half U.S. Pickup Truck Sales Wars
U.S. sales of pickup trucks increased 10% through the first six months of 2015, a gain of more than 107,000 units over the span of 2015’s first-half.
Ford’s F-Series continues to be the category’s top seller, but F-Series volume has decreased in each of the last five months. Second-quarter sales slid 6.5%. As Ford properly equips its dealers with truck inventory and as the automaker figures out precisely how to price the new range of F-150s, we can expect to see F-Series numbers stabilize.
In the meantime, GM’s full-size twins have taken full advantage of the F-Series’ slide.
Year-to-date, the Chevrolet Silverado, America’s second-best-selling vehicle, and GMC Sierra, America’s fourth-ranked truck, have outsold the F-Series by 19,492 units, lashing the Ford by 14,995 units in June alone. Their market share in the full-size segment has increased to 37.2% in the first-half of 2015 from 34.5% at this time a year ago.
GM trucks have also powered the midsize category to a 52% year-over-year improvement so far this year, helped along by an 18% improvement from the class-leading Toyota Tacoma. Midsize trucks still own a small portion of the overall pickup category: just 15.%. That’s up from 11% at this stage one year ago.
Overall, pickups formed 14% of the U.S. auto industry’s volume in the first-half of 2015, up nearly one percentage point compared with last year.
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.
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It's not aluminum; it's price. Or price, with a turbocharged engine, with an aluminum truck bed that will get marred and dented with use. One should have been introduced after the other was into 15 year old "beater truck" category. Too much change too fast in a conservative market. Or it could be price. 10 Thousand American dollars cheaper than a comparable F-150? That Silverado/GMC/RAM is looking mighty fine.
Consumer Reports recently released their test of the latest F150, and rated it well below both the Silverado and RAM. They particularly criticized it for ride, handling, and the still buggy Sync infotainment system. Fuel economy is at best marginally better than Chevy's more conventional vehicle. If the newest Ford truck didn't have Ford Truck Loyalists to sell to, it would be an also ran.