Ford Holds Onto Lead in Pickup Sales Race

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) sold 65,500 F-Series pickups in the month of October to take home the prize for best-selling pickup trucks of the month. And because pickup trucks are the best-selling vehicles at all Detroit Three automakers, sales of pickups play a big role in the companies’ ability to make profits.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) reported October sales of its full-size Silverado pickups rose 10% year over year to 51,647. Sales of the company’s GMC Sierra trucks slipped 0.2% to 18,521, but overall sales of the GMC brand rose 18% in the month of October. GM also sold 7,059 of its all new midsize Chevy Colorado pickup.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) sold 40,931 Ram pickups in October, an increase of 3% year over year.

In the full-size pickup segment, sales for October totaled 176,599 vehicles from the Detroit Three. Ford’s market share totaled 37%, GM’s share came in at 29% for the Chevy Silverado and 10% for the GMC Sierra, and Ram’s market share totaled 23%.

Ford’s pickup sales have trailed down since hitting a high of 71,332 in August, the only time so far in 2015 that the company’s pickups have topped the 70,000-unit sales mark. August sales were up 4.7% year over year and September sales were up 16.4%. In October the year-over-year increase was 3.3%, and the company said that October 2015 truck sales were the best in nine years.

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Year to date, full-size pickup sales total 1.67 million units. Ford’s share so far in 2015 totals nearly 38%, GM gets 29% with its Silverado and nearly 11% with the Sierra, and Ram nabs 22%.

According to Automotive News, incentive spending in October rose by about $450 per vehicle year over year at Chrysler, by about the same amount at Ford and by around $540 at GM. From now until the end of the year, incentives will be plentiful on 2015 models as carmakers look to clear out last year’s models.