The Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the United States for decades, but the Blue Oval has lost its truck sales crown.
According to Seeking Alpha, GM truck sales climbed 12 percent during the first half of the year and this put their share of the American truck market at 34 percent. Ford sales also climbed, by 5 percent, but the company only captured 32 percent of the market.
The news is a bit surprising considering GM hasn’t launched the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. However, those models play an important role in the sales growth as the Detroit Free Press reports the company is clearing out inventory of 2018 models to make way for the redesigned pickups.
Another key factor is that General Motors is in the mid-size truck market and Ford isn’t. 18 percent of trucks sold in the United States during the first half of the year were of the mid-size variety and that’s a two percent increase from 2017. Chevrolet Colorado sales were also up 19,574 units, while the GMC Canyon is doing better as well.
While the Colorado was the second best-selling mid-size truck, there is a lot of competition on the horizon. The Ford Ranger will go on sale early next year and it will be joined by the Jeep Wrangler pickup which could revive the Scrambler moniker. Nissan has also announced plans for an all-new Frontier but there’s no word on when the model will arrive.
The full-size truck market is also about to get a lot more interesting as the redesigned Silverado and Sierra will face off against the all-new Ram 1500 and the recently updated Ford F-150. The F-150 still has the sales advance but its competitors are eager to catch up.
