Autoblog

Numbers Don't Lie: Silverado beats out F-150 as America's best-selling light-duty pickup

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Nissan, Toyota, Off-Road

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]

Numbers Don't Lie: Silverado beats out F-150 as America's best-selling light-duty pickup originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota overtakes Dodge as third best-selling truckmaker in U.S.

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Nissan, Toyota

As we all know by now, auto sales are down, dropping by around 18% in 2008. Pick-ups actually fared worse, posting a decline of 26.5% over the same period. Still, the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado maintained their positions as the two best selling vehicles in the United States, and these two manufacturers managed to post incremental increases in total pick-up truck market share after all was said and done.

Those increases came directly from the competition, especially Dodge. The full-size Ram truck managed to see its piece of the pie dwindle by almost one full percentage point. Dodge's drop in overall market share allowed Toyota, for the first time ever, to grab the bronze medal behind Ford and General Motors. However, it's not particularly good news for the Japanese upstart, which owns just 8.52% of the market after seeing Tundra sales fall by over 30% in '08 and well short of its stated goal of 200,000 units per year. The last place trophy goes to Nissan, as its 34,000 sales represent a meager 2.11% of the market.

These market share figures include both full-sizers and their smaller brethren, and it was the Toyota Tacoma and the aging Ford Ranger that made the biggest upward moves among the mid-size pick-ups. Again, the biggest loser award goes to Dodge, which saw its Dakota sales fall nearly 65%, and its Mitsubishi Raider stablemate, which posted an insignificant 2,900 total sales.

[Source: PickupTrucks.com]

Toyota overtakes Dodge as third best-selling truckmaker in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota lays off 200 temp workers at Tundra plant

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:32:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Toyota Tundra

The full-size pickup truck woes continue to worsen, leaving even mighty Toyota little choice but to slow production of its Tundra model. In fact, Toyota's brand new plant in San Antonio that was built just for the Tundra will be shutting down a total of 14 days between now and October. Full-time workers at the plant will be able to use vacation days, take the time off unpaid or find something else at the plant to do while the assembly line is halted.

Unfortunately, temp-to-hire workers aren't so lucky. Two-hundred employees who were hoping to land full-time positions at the plant will be laid off this summer. Toyota spokesman Mike Goss says, "We have a very long-term view of that factory in Texas. We're trying not to overreact. We're trying not to shut it down." Whoa... back up. Shut it down? We hadn't heard any such thing until it was spoken by Goss. Sounds like things are just as bad for Toyotas with beds as they are for pickups from Detroit. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

Gallery: 2007 Toyota Tundra Limited

[Source: AP via My San Antonio]

Toyota lays off 200 temp workers at Tundra plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dodge Ram production idled at Mexico plant

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:32:00 EST

Filed under: Trends, Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Dodge, Earnings/Financials

Another victim of the downturn in sales of full-size pickup trucks was revealed today as Dodge will be closing its Saltillo plant in northern Mexico for a period of two weeks. The plant produced nearly 170,000 Ram trucks last year. Yesterday, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli indicated that Ram production would need to be adjusted to reflect weak customer demand, and this seems to be the adjustment. According to reports, the plant was idled on Monday and its two-thousand workers are set to return to work on June 23. Last month, sales of the Ram fell by an alarming twenty-five percent. We'd imagine that the last thing Chrysler wants is a large stock of unsold 2008 Ram trucks as it readies the 2009 model, which will thankfully get somewhat better fuel mileage.

Dodge is certainly not the only automaker finding it tough to move large pickups off dealer lots. Both Ford and GM have placed large incentives on their pickups and Toyota, Nissan and Honda have or will shift truck production to passenger cars at plants capable of making the switch.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Dodge Ram production idled at Mexico plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The end is nigh? Camry outsold Silverado in April, gunning for F-Series

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:29:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, Earnings/Financials

Could the reign of Ford's F-Series atop the sales charts in the U.S. come to an end? Some believe that it could indeed happen, and it's not even another pickup truck that is threatening the Blue Oval's bread-and-butter full-size pickup, it's the Toyota Camry. Let that sink in for a moment... alright, let's continue. The Camry already posted better sales numbers than the Chevy Silverado, the perennial second-best seller to the F-Series, for the month of April. In fact, the Silverado suffered a sales drop of 24.7 percent to 37,231 units while the Camry grabbed 40,016 sales in the same month. Still, even after the Camry's great sales month, the Silverado holds the edge when the entire year-to-date sales numbers are compiled, and the F Series still sits atop the list for now. Consider too that the Ford truck will get a major redesign for the upcoming model year. So, while high gas prices will likely continue to put pressure on full-size pickups, let's not jump to hasty conclusions just yet.

[Sources: Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, the Auto Channel]

The end is nigh? Camry outsold Silverado in April, gunning for F-Series originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 May 2008 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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