Ram 1500 sales surged in the third quarter, putting the full-size pickup market on a notably different trajectory. Ram sold 76,650 Ram 1500 trucks in Q3, up 73% from 44,349 a year earlier, while Ford and GM posted far smaller changes in their full-size truck sales.
Ram 1500 Sales Surge 73% in Q3
The full-size truck market has been remarkably consistent, with Ford’s F-Series maintaining a commanding lead, Chevrolet following behind, and Ram generally competing for the next position. But the third quarter brought a significant shift in Ram’s numbers.
Ram 1500 sales jumped 73%, rising from 44,349 units in Q3 last year to 76,650. The truck is now up 41% for the year at just over 202,000 units, while new-hype models such as the Rumble Bee and SRT TRX have not yet arrived.
Ram’s heavy-duty sales moved in the opposite direction, falling 6% from 43,717 to 41,107. Even so, Ram HD sales remain up 3% for the year at 123,201 units.
Combined, Ram’s full-size truck sales reached 117,757 in the quarter. That was well ahead of GMC, which reported Sierra HD sales down 6.9% to 28,604 while Sierra 1500 sales increased slightly to 56,325.
Ram Closes In on Chevrolet
Ram’s quarterly total also came close to Chevrolet’s full-size truck sales. Chevrolet sold 100,221 Silverado 1500s in the quarter, an increase of 13.3%, along with another 44,278 HD trucks, down 10.1%.
Chevrolet remained ahead of Ram for second place, with 144,499 bowtie-branded trucks leaving dealers compared with 117,757 from Ram.
The gap between the two brands, however, is considerably narrower than it has been in the past, raising questions about how the market could look next year.
Ford F-Series Still Holds a Commanding Lead
Ford’s F-Series has struggled this year, but the pickup line continues to hold a substantial lead over Chevrolet and Ram. Ford sold 203,707 F-Series pickups in the third quarter, down 1.9% from a year earlier.
Ford does not separate sales of its half-ton trucks from its Super Duty HD models, unlike its Detroit rivals. In its Q3 sales release, Ford said Super Duty production increased 4.4% to 110,275 trucks.
Because that figure represents production rather than sales, it does not provide a direct comparison between F-150 and Super Duty sales. Still, the numbers suggest Super Duty represents a significant share of Ford’s overall F-Series truck sales.
If more than half of F-Series sales during the quarter were HD trucks, the Ram 1500 would be much closer to the F-150 in sales. Ram’s 1500 also posted a sharp increase at a time when several competitors were largely holding steady.
Ford nevertheless remains the full-size truck sales leader this year. The automaker has faced challenges building enough trucks after a fire late last year at its main aluminum parts supplier. It took most of the year to return to expected production, while another recent issue affected F-150 production.
Despite those challenges, Ford did not lose its sales lead. After three quarters, the F-Series was ahead of the Silverado by 140,000 trucks.
Toyota Tundra Sales Remain Flat
Toyota’s Tundra has seen little movement this year. The pickup recorded 11,318 sales in September and 74,368 for the year, leaving sales basically flat.
Toyota’s Tacoma has also continued to outsell the Tundra by nearly two to one so far this year.
For now, Ford remains the full-size truck sales leader, while Chevrolet continues to hold second place. But the 73% third-quarter increase in Ram 1500 sales has significantly narrowed the gap between Ram and the trucks ahead of it.
