2017 Half-Ton Pickup Sales Are Up for Grabs
We know auto industry analysts are expecting 2017 to put the brakes on auto sales and, for the most part, that's been true for the first quarter of the year — unless you look at pickup trucks sales. Both Ford and Ram are enjoying a solid improvement over last year, and Nissan is crushing its previous numbers. Nissan's success is due in large part to its heart-of-the-market half-ton Titan being available across the country.
It will be interesting to see if this decrease in sales affects the pace of pickup redesigns.
In the meantime, let's look at the market-share shifts in the pickup class for the 2015 and 2016 model years. Clearly, GM will want to improve the standing of its two brands — Chevrolet and GMC. However, so far in 2017 GM has done a much better job of decreasing its number of days supply on dealer lots and incentive spending while improving average transaction prices. That is certain to help GM's bottom line, but will it help dealerships get more buyers to pull the trigger?
The charts below, using information from our team of data crunchers, shows how market share changed from 2015 to 2016 for half-ton pickups. What this means for 2017 is anyone's guess.
Cars.com photo by Evan Sears; graphics by Paul Dolan
Comments
Great chart guys. Just as I thought, GM is the half ton sales leader.
Nicely done, look at that Ford percentage increase over years, great job, so now we can all agree Ford has the market in share in 1/2 ton, how about the 3/4T?
Why does the GM trucks have the downward pointed arrow in their circle
Obviously, Nitro doesn't understand pie charts, at least how it applies to manufactures. An education may have helped that guy or it might have been a waste of time. I'm not sure which applies to him.
Wow! Brand for brand, Ford is kicking it!
As a BRAND, Ford is the Market Share leader. GMs BRANDS lost market share to either RAM OR Nissan. Ford gained market share over the period. This is a brand comparison on percentage share.
To correct myself, GM Brands could have lost market share to Ford as well.
Great chart guys. Just as I thought, GM is the half ton sales leader.
Posted by: GMSRGREAT | Apr 27, 2017 1:13:49 PM
Last 2 years dummy, this year is different.
As a BRAND, Ford is the Market Share leader. GMs BRANDS lost market share to either RAM OR Nissan. Ford gained market share over the period. This is a brand comparison on percentage share.
Posted by: Grnzel1 | Apr 27, 2017 1:57:58 PM
That's correct and that's huge considering they took a gamble on aluminum construction and won bigly.
As a BRAND, Ford is the Market Share leader. GMs BRANDS lost market share to either RAM OR Nissan. Ford gained market share over the period. This is a brand comparison on percentage share.
Posted by: Grnzel1 | Apr 27, 2017 1:57:58 PM
Some GM humper don't know how to read a Pie Chart for Brands.
I'd bet this chart has looked pretty much the same for the last 10 years. You just can't show a trend with two data points.
Ford and Nissan had new model introductions so, of course, they're going to get a bump. Don't know whats going on with Ram. My guess is incentives and leases. On the other hand, can you believe their numbers to begin with. This is right in the middle of their bogus sales reporting activities.
2015. Ford 32.8% GM 41.1%
2016. Ford 33.5% GM 39.1%
So, who sells more 1/2 ton trucks?
@Mark Williams, could you guy's do charts like this for the past 10 years or so?
GM beats Ford without even counting the mid size segment.
For my Ford friends, I have band-aids if anybody needs one or two. They're going fast.
Great job GM, half ton market kings while making money. You can't say the same for Furd, profits down, days of supply on dealer lots is up and incentive spending rising with the newest trucks. Looks like Beer can bodies just don't cut it in real world.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20170427/OEM01/170429858/ford-profits-fall-on-recall-charges-higher-costs
Why would you buy a 1/2 ton GM.... Cannot put a snow plow on them!. No one in CO would put a plow on one for me..
@Mark Williams, could you guy's do charts like this for the past 10 years or so?
Posted by: Woopud | Apr 27, 2017 3:23:47 PM
This link has 2013-2015.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20160208/OEM/302089949/countering-chevys-silverado-surge
No matter what kind of charts, they all show that GM is the truck sales king. Get over it Frank/Nitro = same person. Not a big deal Ford has been #2 for many many years.
Why would you buy a 1/2 ton GM.... Cannot put a snow plow on them!. No one in CO would put a plow on one for me..
Posted by: jack | Apr 27, 2017 3:32:17 PM
Why would you put a snow plow on any modern half ton? They don't weight enough to do any real plow work, they cost more, and they don't have the front suspension/transmission to do the work without wearing out too fast. I used my 2012 F-150 XLT to plow and ended up doing ball joints and control arm bushings at 25,000 miles. The transmission was constantly overheating. The electric steering went out in the winter of 2015. I was done with it at that point. I'm using a Ram 2500 gasser I got cheap and it's 10-times better at moving snow.
I sure am seeing a lot of new F150's and Titan XD's around my town. Can't find find a newer GM truck on the road to save your life. Used lots are full of 2014-2015 GM trucks though, and they just sit there Day after day. Eye test don't lie, Titan XD and F150 are killing it in my area.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20170427/OEM01/170429858/ford-profits-fall-on-recall-charges-higher-costs
Excerpt from link above:
Ford took a $467 million warranty hit in the first quarter. That includes a $295 million charge for two recalls, one involving engines that could catch fire and the other involving door latches.
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This just shows that Fords are only good for barbecues and dropping the kids off at school.
@GMSRGREAT I Would't put a kid in a Ford, at least if you crash in a GM or Ram they might get a broken arm or leg. I know they can't fly out the door or burn to death like they would in a Furd.
PUTC - - -
Suggestion: I know what you meant by the Change chart, but you quoted percents of change, which could mean a % of a %.
What you actually meant was PERCENTAGE POINT changes, obtained by simply subtracting numbers from the two years being compared. (^_^)...
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Do people really buy trucks based on what sells better then the other? I could care less about sales, this might be nice for the marketing department but to me it's worthless. How about some real truck testing so we can decide what we want and need.
A look at the charts makes it very clear---truck buyers are brand loyal. Most of the percentage changes are less than 1 percent.
Ford wins again
https://news.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrTcd4R3wJZ2ugAmm5EDN04?p=best-selling+car+in+each+state&type=dd_us_yahoonews&.sep=&fr=yfp-hrmob
I thing this is better .
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-selling-vehicle-every-us-165700067.html;_ylt=AwrTcd4R3wJZ2ugAm25EDN04
The second one proofs who sales more trucks .
The honest truth about gm halfton trucks. They go for high miles with little issue often. F150 has service issues and a bad department of service. Build a truck that is easy to break. Won't warranty the truck. Its very expensive design in every area. After 100k of actual work miles it's better off getting rid of it. A gm will drive better than new with 150k on the clock with nothing but oil changes. I see it all the time. Axles fall right out of them because they are original and have 200k on the clock. 8 don't think Gm service is much better. I don't really worry about my Chevy like I did about my Ford. I trust that it will last. I knew the Ford eco boost wasn't going to last.
BETTER than new! Ha, that's a good one. We're not buying what your selling here...
Some of you guys are missing the point about this data. It's NOT about who sells the most trucks. Take off your brand goggles and look at this objectively. One MFG has lost MARKET SHARE, others have taken it. Couple of points:
- Fords risk of turbo and aluminum had no negative affect on its share, possibly slightly postive.
- RAM is killing it with one of the older platforms.
- GM needs the 2019 models to do well to reverse the loss of share. I expect GM to follow Ford with diesel, turbo 6 and aluminum and it will be a good truck - it has to be
PUTC should now show a first Qtr. Profits chart. G M profits soar up 33% while Ford soar down 35%.
@Gmzel1
The data tells us nothing. It's two data points that shows no trend whatsoever.
This is what gets to me about this site, they drop articles like this and never follow up. If we had been getting this info in a consistent form for the last five years then we'd have something to talk about.
Jack,
Disagree, kind of.
Two data points do not make a trend.
However it is a market comparative snapshot. It MAY be a leading indicator - or not.
One can say with certainty that from 2015 to 2016 some lost and some gained. If you believe these numbers.
As they say there are lies, damm lies and statistics
@Grnzel1
IMO there are just too many variables to glean any information. You'd really need to know what the natural ebb and flow of market share is for each company. You'd need data that runs through a few model introductions to see how that affect the numbers as well. The other part of the story not told in this chart or by sales numbers, is the amount of profit per unit. GM being down a point in sales total may not have affected their bottom line at all. You certainly can't go picking winners and losers based on anything in the article.
"GM beats Ford without even counting the mid size segment."
You might add "And if you don't count the full size trucks that I don't want you to count, namely 3/4 ton and up."
"Nissan is crushing its previous numbers. Nissan's success is due in large part to its heart-of-the-market half-ton Titan being available across the country."
HAHAHAHAHA crushing the previous year was the gut buster in that comment followed by "success". Biggest epic fail in pickup truck history and everyone knows it expect the author of this piece.
This means I should buy a Ford cause everybody else is buying one.
Most people can't be wrong knowing what the best truck is,,,,, right?
LOL@Titan Epic FAIL
@trucksbuttsANDbeers
And now you know the sound of one hand clapping
"Nissan is crushing its previous numbers. Nissan's success is due in large part to its heart-of-the-market half-ton Titan being available across the country."
In the highest vehicle-selling market segment, "crushing" 15k in sales from 2015 is REALLY NOT HARD. Nissan was crushing essentially a non-existent entry that was only being moved off lots via huge incentives. That doesn't speak to their new truck's strong and weak points and overall value, but let's just say that they were working from, as evidenced by your own chart, nearly zero. You're practically congratulating Nissan for showing up to the party at all.
A similar thing happened with Honda's midsize Ridgeline, which languished for years before being killed off two years before a new one arrived with a total rethink of its formula.
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