Ford F-150 Named 2015 Best Buy

By Paul Ausick Updated Apr 27, 9:36PM EDT · Published Nov 17, 10:40AM EST

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Automobile valuation and information provider Kelley Blue Book (KBB) announced its selections for the 2015 Best Buy award in a dozen major vehicle categories. The all-new, aluminum body Ford F-150 pickup from Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was named Best Truck Buy and Overall Best Buy for 2015.

The F-150 had better be a winner with buyers because Ford has spent billions of dollars designing the new pickup and retooling its assembly plants to build the aluminum-bodied versions. Not only has the cash investment been large, but sales have slowed, compared with the Ram pickups from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) and the competing Chevy Silverado from General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM).

The F-150 is still the best-selling vehicle in the United States, but its margin is shrinking. Year-to-date through October, Ford’s F-Series truck have dropped 0.6% of share while Silverado has added 6.4% and Ram has added 22.9%.

Other 2015 KBB category winners were:

Small Car: Honda Civic from Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC)
Mid-Size Car: Honda Accord
Full-Size Car: Chevrolet Impala
Luxury Car: Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Sports/Performance Car: 2015 Chevrolet Corvette
Electric/Hybrid: Chevrolet Volt
Small SUV/Crossover: Honda CR-V
Mid-Size SUV/Crossover: Toyota Highlander from Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM)
Full-Size SUV/Crossover: Chevrolet Tahoe
Luxury SUV/Crossover: Acura MDX
Minivan: Honda Odyssey

Fiat Chrysler failed to place any vehicle on the list, and Ford managed just the one. The Honda Civic, like the F-Series, has been losing share, in this case to Nissan’s Sentra and Kia’s Soul, as well as the Toyota Corolla and the Chevy Cruze.

The Chevy Volt is also dropping share, down nearly 15% in the first 10 months of 2014, as Nissan Leaf sales rise 35% and BMW’s new i3 also chip away at the Volt. The Mercedes C-Class trails BMW’s 3 and 4 classes and has seen sales drop about 21% in 2014.

ALSO READ: Toyota Leads List of Cars People Consider Buying

About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.