Ford Widens Lead in Pickup Sales

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) sold 65,192 F-Series pickups in the month of November to maintain its lead as the best-selling pickup truck in the United States. And because pickup trucks are the best-selling vehicles at all Detroit Three automakers, sales of pickups play a big role in all three companies’ ability to make profits.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) reported November sales of its full-size Silverado pickups rose 5.1% year over year to 45,001. Sales of the company’s GMC Sierra trucks dropped 26.7% to 16,527 to a combined total of 61,528. Overall sales of the GMC brand slipped 1.9% in the month of November. GM also sold 6,230 of its all-new midsize Chevy Colorado pickup.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) sold 36,407 Ram pickups in November, an increase of 2% year over year.

November 2015 had two fewer sales days than November of 2014.

In the full-size pickup segment, sales for November totaled 163,127 vehicles from the Detroit Three. Ford’s market share totaled 40%, GM’s share came in at 27.6% for the Chevy Silverado and 10% for the GMC Sierra, and Ram’s market share totaled 22.3%. Month over month, Ford increased its market share by 3%, while GM’s share dipped by about 2% and Ram’s share remained essentially unchanged.

Ford’s pickup sales have trailed down since hitting a year-to-date high of 71,332 in August, the only time so far in 2015 that the company’s pickups topped the 70,000-unit sales mark. August sales were up 4.7% year over year, September sales were up 16.4% and October sales rose 3.3%. In November the year-over-year increase was 10.4%, and the company said that November 2015 truck sales were the best in eight years.

Year to date, full-size pickup sales total nearly 1.84 million units. The share of the Ford F-150 Series in the first 11 months of 2015 totals nearly 38%. GM gets about 29% with its Silverado and nearly 11% with the Sierra, while Ram nabs about 22%.

Automotive News reported that incentive spending in November rose by about 6% year over year, with the average discount topping $3,000 per vehicle, according to research by TrueCar.

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