Chevrolet Silverado Topples Ford F-150's Sales Reign
One of the sacred truths in the automobile industry is the utter dominance of the Ford F-150. The light pickup truck was not only the best selling vehicle overall in the United States for a 23 year period, it has also been the best-selling truck for an additional 8 years. Much of this extended sales success has been attributed not only to the quality of the product, but also to the fact that its primary competition from General Motors has always been split down the middle thanks to the company's dual GMC / Chevrolet truck strategy. With buyers able to choose between the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra, it has been difficult for either brand to gather the sales momentum needed to topple the reigning Ford king.
However, recent detailed sales data made available by J.D. Power and Associates through their Power Information Network has revealed that at long last, Ford's stranglehold on light truck sales might be coming to an end. While truck sales are down overall when compared to the same period one year ago, the details of the current market indicate a noticeable shift away from the Ford F-150 and towards the Chevrolet Silverado.
The sales figures released by manufacturers on a monthly basis are somewhat deceptive when it comes to pickup trucks. Each company typically lists the total sales per 'brand,' rather than individual sales per model. This means that although Ford's year-to-date sales lead the industry (172,646 trucks sold for a total of 33.8% of the market), that figure includes all F-150's, F-250's, and F-350's - not just the flagship light truck. The Power Information Network data manages to pierce through this subtle deception and actually break down sales on a model per model basis. In doing so, it was revealed that while the F-150 has managed to increase its market share by 1.1 percent when compared to 2008, it has finally fallen behind the Silverado, which jumped from 31.5 percent of light truck sales to 32.4 percent - ahead of the F-150's 29.1 percent.
There have been 119,959 Chevrolet Silverados sold from the beginning of the year until now, while the F-150 has only been able to muster 107,778 customers. This is a significant difference, and one which is particularly worrisome for Ford given that the 2010 F-150 is an all-new design which should have appealed to a larger number of buyers. Ford is still comfortably ahead in the heavy-duty pickup market, with 46.1% of the market compared to the second place Dodge Ram 2500 with 25.2% and the 21% third place ranking of the Chevrolet Silverado.
The biggest losers in terms of market share for the light truck market have been the Japanese brands. Despite the financial shakiness surrounding Chrysler and General Motors, neither Toyota nor Nissan was able to take advantage. Both the Tundra and the Titan fell off significantly when compared to 2008 sales figures, and together the trucks represent only 12.2% of total light truck sales in North America. GMC also saw its sales drop by 0.5%, relegating them to also-ran status in the light truck game as they eked out a mere 2,947 more units sold than the struggling Tundra.