Numbers Don't Lie: Silverado beats out F-150 as America's best-selling light-duty pickup
Quick – What's the best-selling light-duty pickup truck in America? Did you say the Ford F-150? Not so fast. According to the J.D. Power Information Network (via our friends at PickupTrucks.com), General Motors sold more Chevy Silverado 1500 pickups (119,959 units) in June that Ford sold F-150s (107,778 units), and that's not a fluke.
It seems that the automakers don't actually break out the sales of each pickup line when reporting overall figures, so Ford lumps all F-Series (F-150, F-250, F-350...) sales together when it correctly lays claim to the title of Best-Selling Pickup Line in America. Ford's Super Duty series commands nearly 50-percent of the HD pickup market, which puts the Blue Oval on top of the overall sales race.
Interestingly, all three American automakers picked up full-size pickup market share at the expense of Nissan and especially Toyota, which saw sales of its Tundra plummet from 76,516 units to just 36,106 units in June of 2009 compared to one year ago. Click here for the full breakdown of full-size truck sales data.
[Source: PickupTrucks.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tony 10:15PM (7/08/2009)
Wow! I have never seen that much verbal diarrhea on an auto-blog before. You sure you're not a woman dressed up as a guy? If not, you might want to schedule some gender surgery to realise your dream of womanhood.
Your 1999 vehicles have to be Matchbox size as no vehicle can go 10 years with absolutely no maintenance repairs ( brakes etc, etc). Oh, let me guess, you don't actually drive them. You push them around the room making Vroom, Vroom noises.
Let me guess, you voted for Bush (twice) and you still think Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
inline6 7:42PM (7/08/2009)
Studies like this are a FAR more accurate view of pickup sales, since:
Ford lumps the 150 and 250/350 together, when they're on two different platforms.
GM lumps their 1500 and HD models together, as they're on the same platform, but breaks them out between the two brands.
GM has long sold FAR more full-size pickups than Ford has, and doubtless makes more off of them, since they're all on one platform.
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Zoran 5:17PM (7/09/2009)
Government Motors did, but Chevy didn't.
tuxchown 3:11PM (7/09/2009)
Yep. According to the numbers in this link, Ford F series sold 179,632 units for June 2009 while GM (Silverado and Sierra) sold 200,016 units. I think you'll find similar results every year, as far as General Motors being the number one seller of light duty trucks.
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2009/07/june-2009-top-10-truck-sales.html
Randy 12:19AM (7/10/2009)
Where did you get your numbers? The link you provided clearly says F Series sold the most by about 30K units. Is it somewhere else in the link?
tuxchown 4:44AM (7/10/2009)
Sorry. Wrong link. Wrong information. Obviously those numbers are for an entire year.
Greg 7:47PM (7/08/2009)
If only Detroit fought this hard for their share of the passenger car market.
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boost4 10:52PM (7/08/2009)
Oh no, whatever the latest blowhard reason to boycott GM doesn't appear to be working.
Mr.Oak 1:08PM (7/09/2009)
Don't worry, the battle has been joined. Remember we are still in the midst of the first generation of competitive family cars from the domestics.
Chrysler has done major damage with the 300.
The Fusion has held its own.
The Malibu is showing strong, even though it was released into teeth of a most brutal economic downturn.
Up market, the CTS is the sole credible domestic entry. Yes I said sole. Can't take either the MKZ or MKS seriously in this segment. Both luke warm entries.
GM needs to get the Volt and Cruze out to the showrooms ASAP.
Joe K. 7:54PM (7/08/2009)
Not new news. This has been going on for a while. If sales of GMC and Chevy were lumped, they would have beaten Ford a long time ago.
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tuxchown 3:12PM (7/09/2009)
GM always has beaten Ford in truck sales.
merlot066 11:07PM (7/12/2009)
But they don't lump them for whatever reason, just like Ford doesn't lump Fusion/Milan sales (although that is a less important battle). Also, i'm pretty sure this was mostly due to the fact that GM closed half their dealers. The Chrysler dealer in my town probably sold one car a week if they were lucky, and when they got the boot they sold their entire lot in less than two weeks. I'm sure there were plenty of dealers with a boatload of cars and trucks that they had marked down dirt cheap.
yankee 8:03PM (7/08/2009)
it wiil they just gave them away
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Rev Junkie 8:05PM (7/08/2009)
Something bothers me about the way pickup classes are numbered. Why is 1500 the half-ton, 2500 the 3/4 ton, and 3500 one ton?
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inline6 8:13PM (7/08/2009)
Probably the same reason that a BMW 3-Series equipped with a 3.0L NA I6 is called a 328i, while the turbo version of the same engine is called the 335i.
It's probably why the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG - lousy with "6.3" badges - actually has a 6.2L V8 engine.
Greg 8:54PM (7/08/2009)
With the trucks it is as much tradition as anything. Years ago Ford was 100/200 &300... but heaven forbid someone get a bigger number!
BMW is trying to differentiate the 328i (230hp) from the 330 (255hp). Since the 335 (300hp) is even more powerful it gets a higher designation. The designations will now be based on power rather than liters. The new 750li is a 4.4 (400hp 450lb ft) vs. the old car's 4.8. (360hp 360lb ft) But the new engine has much more power and torque.
Hey we gotta have something to talk about!
Paul P. 9:01PM (7/08/2009)
It comes from the original payload capacities of the trucks. The first trucks were rated by their payload in tonnage.
This got screwed up though, when manufacturers started offering heavy duty versions of certain truck classifications. So instead of being able to carry 1,000 lbs, the "heavy half-ton" could safely carry, say, 1,300 lbs. People still called it a half ton, but it was really a bit over.
That naming scheme carries over to today, even if the actual capacities are really out of whack (for example, you can buy an F150 with a Heavy Package that can carry over 1 1/2 tons in payload; but it's still classified as a half ton)
Really, the official proper naming scheme goes by classes that are based on GVWR. The F150 is really classified as a Class 2 truck, as it's GVWR, for all configurations, is between 6,001lbs and 10,000lbs. However, it is rarely referred to in that manner.
Durwood 8:16PM (7/08/2009)
It doesn't surprise me with the fire sale GM has had going on. My boss bought a new GMC extended cab that stickered for $29,000.00 for $20,000.00. ford hasn't marked them down that low yet, but i saw $32,000.00 fords marked down to $25,000.00 today.
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Alan 8:16PM (7/08/2009)
Wow, some kind of truck, amazing... *YAWN*
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Paul P. 8:28PM (7/08/2009)
I go to truck shows all over the east coast, and I make it a point to talk to guys about their trucks, from light duty pickups to class 8 rigs. I've heard from a lot of people that they were waiting until Ford came out with their 4.4L diesel or a 5.4L replacement to buy a new F150.
Apparently, a lot of the guys with older 5.4L trucks don't like the engine because of the whole "shooting spark plugs" issue, and the guys with newer trucks don't see a reason to buy a brand new truck because it's nearly the same engine as what they've currently got. In fact, I even heard from a bunch of guys with heavy duty trucks that they are willing to trade them in on a new half-ton, if they could get it with a diesel.
Sure, these are truck enthusiasts, most of which are diesel heads, so they don't represent the whole market fairly. But, at the same time, these are the guys who buy trucks and nothing but trucks, both for themselves and for their fleets. If you make something they like better than their current truck, they'll buy it.
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