Cars and Drivers

Ford F-150 to Lead Annual Car Sales Again

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: December 25, 2015 8:15 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 3:43 pm

After a slow start to 2015 sales, the Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) F-150 is slated to be the best-selling car, a position it has held for decades.

Ford sold 65,192 of the F-150 pickups in November, up 10.4%. The introduction of a new version of the vehicle earlier in the year slowed sales. The partially aluminum vehicle, weighing hundreds of pounds less than its predecessor, had sales hindered by factory backup. That is one reason total F-150 sales rose only 2.3% for the first 11 months of the year to 695,143.

Kelley Blue Book recently forecast sales of all Ford cars and light trucks to be up 11.2% in December. Its researchers pointed out:

With national gas prices as their lowest point since 2009, Kelley Blue Book expects full-size pickup trucks to be the top segment in December. This segment also was helped in 2015 by the new Ford F-Series and a surge from the Chevrolet Silverado, and the segment should report the highest sales total since 2007 at nearly 2.2 million units.

F-Series sales were well ahead of its rival, General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) Chevy Silverado. It will be impossible for Silverado sales to close that gap. GM sold 537,552 Silverado pickups in the first 11 months of the year. This number was up 13.9%. The third place Ram pickup, built by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) fell well behind with year-to-date sales of 407,981, up 3.1%

The fact that pickups are the top-selling three vehicles tells a great deal about how important utility is against simple transportation. This factor should keep F-150 pickup sales at levels that will contribute to its ability to hold first place for several years, at least.