The Frontier continues to impress. It's 12 model years old any day now, and it is still selling in the middle of the pack. I have long said that it's the most over-looked value in the segment, because an "old" pickup is a pickup with no bugs or issues.

Toss vans into the truck-ish mix and Ford is back ahead by a good amount

Nissans troubles selling the titan XD is not a surprise. They missed the price point, badly. Just having a Cummins is not enough.

The Nissan Frontier continues to be a good solid value despite it's age. Remember that this is a pickup truck not a luxury type of midsize pickup.

With the massive month over month sales increases of both GM mid size trucks one can assume that they are stealing sales from the GM full size twins. Ford undoubtedly is watching closely and realizes that if they offer a mid size truck it too will rob sales from their claimed sales leader the F150. Well over a year ago I stated here on PUTC that if Ford brings back the Ranger they will give it a F-series designation so that they can include it in their monthly pick-up truck sales totals. I stand by that comment now more than ever. You won't see just a Ranger as before, it will probably be called the F-100, unless they call it the Ranger F-100. Either way , I'm right.

As Colorado sales go up, GM full-size goes down!

Proving once again Colorado sales are not stealing from Tacoma's, just GM full-size!

Whoa, in September sales Ram passed right on past Chevrolet. Look out Chevy!

The reason the Frontier have spiked is purely due to daily rental sales. Frontier sales are 60% fleet 40% retail, followed by Ram and Ford. GM is is the only manufacturer to slow down their fleet sales to boost their average transaction price and resale value.

We already know Ford is bringing back the ranger, Ford though, will be smart and allow the mighty f-series to continue to be the champ of trucks, and then the ranger will take over the mid size sales, as GMSrgreat has predicted, and the fall of GM will start, thanks for pointing that out GMSRGREAT and JOHNNY!

The sales of mid-size trucks continue to remain high because there is a large market for smaller-than-full-size trucks. I understand that the C-twins, the Tacoma, and the Ridgeline are all being produced at capacity and have limited availability otherwise their sales would have been even higher. Sales of the mid-size trucks will be even higher when the new Ranger and Jeep mid-sized pickup hit the market sometime in the next few years. Hopefully we will also get a mid-sized truck from Hyundai and the Fiat Fullback or a Fullback-based Dodge Dakota.

Nissan Titan sales should increase now that the half-ton Titan is on the market. The half-ton just hit the market, so its availability is probably still limited. The next few months should determine what the true market for the half-ton is.

The XD version seems to be a flop since it has less capability than the three-quarter-ton trucks from competitors. Many of the commentators here predicted it would be a failure. I hope the half-ton succeeds since it means more choice for consumers, and more choice is always better.

Rather than spending the funds to develop the Titan XD, Nissan should have brought the next generation Frontier to market in the U.S. sooner. Although the current Frontier is selling strongly, a new Frontier would bring in new sales and higher transaction prices. Perhaps Nissan should continue to produce the current Frontier after the new one is introduced just as they did with the Rogue CUV. That would give fleets an affordable mid-size truck while not hurting the resale value of the new Frontier by selling it to fleets in large numbers.

I am not convinced that the GM C-twins are significantly cannibalizing the S-twins. The S-twins sold very strongly last year and in the early part of this year despite the C-twins having been on the market since fall 2014. Why is cannibalization only beginning now? I think it is more likely that many of the missing September sales were pulled away by Ram, given Ram’s huge September increase.

Also, cannibalization would work both ways; i.e., some people could come to the dealer to buy a Colorado, then decide it is too small inside or not capable enough and buy a Silverado instead when they realize that they can get the bigger truck for just a little more money.

A thought, is it safe to say (not brand specific now) a pickup truck profit margins higher than many average cars? yes/no. Thinking yes. If so, then the discussion of when Ford (or others) sells a smaller pickup, the they loose some sales of full size & profits.
But I think the other also happens. I mean people that normally buy an average car because a "full size" is just to much, to big", may now jump into truck market and buy the smaller trucks!
Just a thought...

@supercrew, I would say yes to that, and that was explained as why chrysler then and GM went into bankruptcy, when the truck market went bye bye. I will also agree on the type of people that now will by a truck since they are small, i personally know 2 people already who were the small honda crv type people who went to a gm mid size for the bed and overal size compared to a full size.

Ford decided in 2011 that they were going to build the truck they wanted to sell, not the truck that their customers wanted to buy. They stated that if you needed a truck you needed a F-150 and if you needed anything smaller you should buy one of their SUVs they were no longer making the Ranger.

Ford handed Toyota their small truck business but I can assure you that Toyota is not going to give Ford that business back without a fight. I know several people that feel that Ford tried to force them into a F-150 and will never buy another Ford.

Why you don't show 1/2 ton 3/4 ,1ton,,450/650,,sales this is a breakdown,,

GM #1 once again awesome job GM!

The Frontier continues to impress. It's 12 model years old any day now, and it is still selling in the middle of the pack. I have long said that it's the most over-looked value in the segment, because an "old" pickup is a pickup with no bugs or issues.
Posted by: WXman | Oct 6, 2016 7:04:44 AM

I agree. I've long said that the guys overpaying for Tacomas are crazy. The Frontier is cheaper, has more power, is more reliable, and built tougher than the Tacoma. The body styling is dated but it's a better truck than the Taco all day. They're a steal!

am not convinced that the GM C-twins are significantly cannibalizing the S-twins. The S-twins sold very strongly last year and in the early part of this year despite the C-twins having been on the market since fall 2014. Why is cannibalization only beginning now? I think it is more likely that many of the missing September sales were pulled away by Ram, given Ram’s huge September increase.

Also, cannibalization would work both ways; i.e., some people could come to the dealer to buy a Colorado, then decide it is too small inside or not capable enough and buy a Silverado instead when they realize that they can get the bigger truck for just a little more money.
Posted by: 5-Speed | Oct 6, 2016 11:12:53 AM

I would say that the Silverado sales drop is due to the 2016 facelift being a so-so improvement. On top of that, there are so many 2014+ Silverados out there, that a lot of buyers want something different. In my neck of the woods, you can't go a mile down the road without seeing a dozen of them. Kind of like how some guys love muscle cars but hate the Mustang only because they're "a dime a dozen" or "every guy and their brother has one". GM needs to do a better redesign of the front end. They rushed/botched the current one.

Ram surges. Gm has consistently matched or outsold Ford. Literally since the pickup truck was invented. But articles like this always sit gm into GMC and Chevrolet. Wonderr if all 7 of those Lincoln mk Lts get thrown into Ford sales?
The big surprise is that people like he bowtie more than the red GMC emblem. Maybe it's just convenience of dealer.

Remove Texas numbers and I bet Ram sells nearly as well as Ford and Chevrolet. But Texans buy trucks for grocery getters in the brand of their favorite NASCAR team. Go into the Midwest where povs are used for work... Ram HD are almost on their own. They love that cummins out there.

Did an overnight test drive of all 3 "American" brands and really not much difference. The tailgate step on the Ford helps combat it's cheap dash, cummins puts the Ram out front for diesel owners. Gm .. good but it's a tough aesthetic choice. It all comes down to which one you like better. There's no difference in them that can't be a matter of opinion.

turdcoma days are numbered.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20160725/OEM/307259969/sources:--fca-found-sales-were-inflated

Idiots!

Chevy sold 55763 pickups in September 2016. Ram sold 47792.

How does Mark Williams say that "...Ram...finally succeeded in September by selling about 2,400 more pickups than Chevy"

???

@Jim

I'm surprised there haven't been any RICO suits from the Department of Justice over this crap.

Last month a huge story about Wells Fargo bank--a very good company--using pressure tactics to drive higher performance from their sales teams.

FCA dealers will risk FBI agents interviewing their sales/service staff over tricks like starting the clock early on a customer's vehicle warranty.

That kind of news story is the absolute worst thing a dealer can have. The public already does not trust car dealers.

The reason that 3/4 and 1-ton sales aren't broken out because they are traditionally dominated by Ford, followed by Ram. GM hovers around 20-25% of the HD market and Ford around 45%, with Ram in the 35% range. Given 1/2 ton dominance of GM, it is pretty telling how their brand of HD is off the mark. More telling even with the Duramax and Allison combo. After nearly 30 years, customers aren't sold on the IFS.
But GM didn't invest the capital into a clean-sheet HD design to compete against Ford and Ram, they invested their capital elsewhere. While from a purely financial standpoint it was wise in the short term given the bankruptcy and bailout, in the long term it is another slow drain on loyal GM buyers.
The death of regular rear drive vehicles, capable HD trucks, the performance hierarchy, no mini-vans, Camaro abscence, too many heavy, under-powered 4-cyl sedans, and expanding competition creates a buyers paradise outside the GM showroom.

@toycrusher

Yes Ford's numbers would go up if you threw vans in, but so would GM's, particularly if you include full-size SUVs. In the grand scheme, GM is the bigger trucker maker/seller by a a little bit. Ram by contrast, while they have vans, the pickup is the runaway best seller of that brand, and they came in just shy of 500k units last year.