Truck dealers in the US know they’ve chosen the most profitable segment in the automotive industry. Big or small trucks, there is always someone who wants to buy this kind of machine. Good sales and nice profit are tow guaranteed things.
Sales are metered by quarters. We have completed two full three-month periods and some surprises are showing the changes in the market. However, one thing is really hard to imagine – Ford F-150 not being the best-selling truck. Last year, the Blue Oval company sold nearly 1 million units. This season they are keeping the same pace and last two quarters will show us if the legendary truck can achieve 7-digit sales.
Q1 – Ford’s Domination, Ram Upsets Chevrolet
First quarter and we already have a surprise. Ram 1500 entered the new season very strong and the result in the previous period pays off. In 2018 the FCA presented the new vehicle. It was a star of Detroit Auto Show, half-time commercial ad during the Super Bowl… Everything pointed out that Ram 1500 could be one of the stars of the market as well.
And that is exactly what happened in Q1 of 2019. This pickup achieved a 15 percent increase of sales compared to the Q1 of 2018 and dealers reported 120,000 sales. Sales of the Chevy Silverado 1500, which used to be Ford’s major threat, decreased by 15 percent for 114k units sold during Q1. Ford F-150 dominates the full-size market with 215,000 sales. GMC sold 40,000 Sierras 1500, and Tundra achieved a 5 percent drop in sales of Tundra. Nissan Titan had the biggest fall (24 percent).
(What makes Ram 1500 so special?)
The mid-size truck market revived with the arrival of Ford Ranger and Jeep Gladiator. The Q1 brought signs of recovery. Even Toyota Tacoma and Chevrolet Colorado had increases in this three-month run. The Japanese company leads the way with 58,000 units sold, and GM achieves 33,500 sales of Chevy Colorado and 7k sales of GMC Canyon. The biggest drop in this class is recorded by Nissan Frontier (11 percent). Buyers purchased 9,421 units of the new Ford Ranger.
Q2 – Ram Challenges Ford, Truckers are Buying More Rangers
The image in the Q2 is very similar to Q1. But, during the April-June period, Ram managed to get very close to Ford’s numbers. Still, the F-150 keeps the pace that no other model can follow. 233k sales in Q2, 448k sales combined, or 0.6 percent down compared to last year is making it still dominant.
Ram 1500 took the second place again, but this time with better numbers. Compared to last year, FCA sold 73 percent more trucks in the same period of the season. Truckers purchased 180,000 units. Chevy Silverado is still struggling and it seems the new generation will have problems. Sales dropped by 10 percent compared to Q2 of 2018 and 12 percent in 2018/2018 YTD comparison.
Its twin, GMC Sierra 1500 is going the same way, but with decreased percentages. The change in Q2 is 4 percent and total YTD sales are down by 3.5 percent. Toyota Tundra is the only model that maintains the records, while the Nissan Titan is again down by more than 20 percent.
(Sales are showing buyers’ disappointment with recent Tundra news)
In the mid-size market, we can register a huge fall of Chevy Colorado (23 percent). However, the sales of the other GM truck, GMC Canyon, jumped by the same percentage. But, Colorado sales dropped from 41,000 units in Q2 2018, to 31,000 in Q2 of 2019. GMC sold 2,000 more Canyon pickups. Tacoma is still a leader with 63k sales in Q2. The first full quartal is showing that Ford Ranger will become a serious competitor very soon. The Blue Oval company reported with 21,000 sold units and it already beat Nissan Frontier. Jeep Gladiator is now available for purchases and 7,252 fans are already owning it.
(Ford Ranger to achieve better sales in 2020 with the arrival of Raptor version)
