10 Most Popular Trucks

There’s no doubt that the Most Popular Trucks are the prime movers of today’s marketplace growth, but there is room for debate about exactly what qualifies as a “truck.” For example, purists would limit that moniker solely to vehicles built with body-on-frame construction, in which a separate metal frame is used as the platform for the vehicle, with a distinct body being among the pieces bolted onto that frame; in unibody construction, the signature manufacturing style for cars and crossovers, the body and frame are designed together as one integrated unit.

The thing is, outside of the three full-size pickups at the top of the sales list, the current crop of body-on-frame trucks delivers a relatively low sales yield. So, we included not just the highest-volume trucks here, but also some that are strong sellers within their segments—and the country’s No. 1 full-size van.

The 2015 Ford F-Series full-size pickups, of course, are No. 1 on the Most Popular Trucks leaderboard, thanks to more than 750,000 sales last year. And that was during a “down” year, when sales slipped by 1.3 percent as the Blue Oval began its (ongoing) transition to all-new, aluminum intensive 2015 F-150.  Still, the F-Series closed out 2014 as the best-selling truck in the United States (for the 38th straight year) and the country’s top-selling vehicle of any type (for the 33rd).

Now, about that re-engineered F-150: Not only does it signal a landmark manufacturing change that introduces military-grade aluminum and reduces curb weight by up to 750 lbs., it also upgrades the 2015 Ford F-Series roster with available new features like a 26-mpg EcoBoost engine, a 360-degree exterior camera system, integrated loading ramps, LED headlamps and spotlights, and more.

The 2015 Chevrolet Silverado maintained its own second-place sales traditions last year, entering the Most Popular Trucks honor roll with silver medals for both truck and overall-vehicle delivery volume in 2014. That was good enough for 529,755 annual sales and a 10.3 percent jump, but not good enough for the Bowtie Brand.

To keep momentum moving, the 2015 Silverado added key features like the OnStar 4G LTE system, complemented by a mobile wi-fi hotspot and 3-month/3-gigabyte trial data plan. Additional tech upgrades for the new model year included text-messaging assistance and Siri Eyes Free integration, each enhancing the Silverado’s MyLink infotainment system, along with an upper-glovebox USB port for LT models (with the 40/20/40 bench seat).

The 2015 Silverado further welcomes an eight-speed automatic transmission for its available 6.2-liter, 420-hp V8.

Recent years have seen full-size pickups sweep the sales-volume podium on a regular basis, and that continued last year, when the Ram Pickups were the third Most Popular Trucks in the country and also held down that position on the 2014 overall-vehicle sales leaderboard. The bottom line: 439,789 sales and a 23.6 percent surge in demand.

The 2015 Ram was pretty popular with Autobytel as well, capturing our most recent Truck of the Year Award and impressing editors with its EcoDiesel V6—which offers up EPA marks of 20 mpg city/28 mpg highway/23 mpg combined and delivers 240 hp, 420 lb.-ft. of torque and a 9,200-lb. towing maximum.

Beyond showcasing the industry’s only light-duty pickup with a diesel engine, Ram also revealed two special editions for the new model year, an up-level Laramie Limited and the aggressive Ram Rebel.

We start dropping out of the truly high-volume realms with the next one of our most popular trucks, the 2015 GMC Sierra. The Sierra had the fourth highest sales total of all trucks last year, and its 211,833 deliveries did represent a 14.9 percent advance in volume, but that result only brought the Professional Grade full-size pickup to the 18th position on the industry’s all-vehicle sales chart. 

Nonetheless, the Sierra continues to carve out a significantly sized niche in the pickup segment, spearheaded by its range-topping Denali models. These lux trucks already boasted the full-range of GMC amenities—like signature LED lighting, heated leather seats and safety measures like forward-collision warning and lane-departure warning—but now add the latest MyLink technology, including a mobile wi-fi hot-spot and 4G LTE connectivity, as well as a sophisticated magnetic ride control suspension that can adjust to meet road conditions every 5 milliseconds.

The 2015 Toyota Tacoma makes a surprise showing in the fifth spot on our list of Most Popular Trucks, upsetting the new latest GM entries to remain the top-selling smaller pickup in the country and further nudging aside Toyota’s own full-size choice, the Tundra; of the four brands offering both full-size and smaller pickups, it’s only at Toyota that the smaller truck has the biggest sales numbers.

Speaking of which, the Tacoma saw 155,041 deliveries in the previous year, slipping slightly (-2.8 percent) as compared to 2013 but with volume gains in every month from September through December.

A particular advantage for the Tacoma: The new TRD Pro Series edition, designed for serious all-wheel-drive performance and serving up highlights like 16-inch beadlock-style wheels, a TRD suspension enhanced by Bilstein high-performance shocks, a TRD cat-back exhaust and a robust 4.0-liter V6 engine.

When it comes to Most Popular Trucks, the redesigned 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban are the real deal, with traditional body-on-frame construction and—when combining their annual sales figures—six-digit delivery totals: The 204-inch, three-row Tahoe rang up 97,726 sales last year (+17 percent) while the even bigger Suburban, able to distribute nine occupants along its 224-inch length, tallied a 7.3 percent growth rate last year and 55,009 sales.

But despite their brute force, these beasts still serve up all of the amenities of their crossover cousins and then some. Thus, not only do the Tahoe and Suburban step up with an available hands-free liftgate and a full range of proactive safety measures, they also can up the ante with a mobile wi-fi hotspot, 4G LTE connectivity and wireless smartphone charging.

Toyota made a concerted effort to upgrade the Tundra for the 2015 model year, and that work paid off with a seventh-place finish on the Autobytel rankings of Most Popular Trucks. More specifically, Tundra sales crept up by 5.1 percent during 2014, on the strength of 118,493 deliveries. This year, however, customers for the 2015 Toyota Tundra also will benefit from improved functionality and increased fun.

Starting off the available changes are an integrated trailer brake for trucks with the 5.7-liter V8—rated at 381 hp and 401 lb.-ft. of torque—and a spray-in bedliner that will be offered across the Tundra team. Double-cab models then debut a handy under-seat storage tray, while the brand further raises ye olde trail bar with the TRD Pro Off-Road Model, with exclusive design and performance cues from Toyota Racing Development.

Most Popular Trucks provide at least some premium features, while some offer quite a few. But only the 2015 Cadillac Escalade goes all-in with both a true body-on-frame foundation and ultra-lux amenities like its full-LED exterior illumination. These are no mere add-ons, either; instead, the Escalade’s premium lighting shows off industry-first Total Internal Reflection high beams, the “Cadillac” named emblazoned directly on the headlamp bezel, in script, and tall, vertical LED taillamps designed to put a new spin on a traditional Cadillac design cue.

The 2015 Cadillac Escalade family—the best-selling large luxury SUVs of 2014, backed by more than 30,000 sales—further boasts a cut-and-sewn interior with supple leather and real-wood accents, the full portfolio of GM’s electronic safety measures, Cadillac CUE connectivity setup (with a 12.3-inch screen and mobile wi-fi hot-spot), and, thanks to a 6.2-liter V8, the ability to run from 0-60 in fewer than 6 seconds.

Yes, Ford’s full-size van has moved to unibody construction, but with it’s work-friendly positioning and growing sales mojo, we can still call the 2015 Ford Transit one of the Most Popular Trucks in the United States.

Indeed, after launching late last year, the Transit has grown volume for seven consecutive months and even had become the No. 1 commercial van in the United States by the end of January.

Certainly helping matters are typical Ford benefits like an EcoBoost engine and SYNC with MyFord Touch, but the Transit also showcases more commercially oriented advantages like 487.3 cubic feet of cargo space, a wagon model that can fit up to five rows of seating, and a soon-to-debut diesel engine.

Autobytel looks firmly toward the future for the final entry on our Most Popular Trucks checklist: the all-new 2015 Chevrolet Colorado.

The first of the industry’s next-gen mid-size pickups, the Colorado went on sale in the fall of 2014 so it doesn’t have much of a sales record at this point in the game. But what it does have is a cutting-edge MyLink connectivity system (with a mobile wi-fi hotspot), forward collision alert, lane-change alert and a standard rear-view camera, all complemented by surprisingly high level of true-truck capabilities. As a case in point, the V6-powered Colorado can tow up to 7,000 lbs., while features like a CornerStep bumber, a locking EZ Lift-and-Lower tailgate and the “GearOn” cargo-management system are orderable throughout the Colorado lineup.

On the other hand, the Colorado is about a foot and a half shorter than the full-size Chevy Silverado, with fuel-economy grades that can reach 27 mpg highway.