The Ford F-Series celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

Equipment

Trends from pickup trucks' Big Three

Jan. 13, 2023

Ford, GM, and Ram each reported positive results from 2022. The F-Series is the top truck for its 46th consecutive year, GM sells the most overall pickups for its ninth, and Ram makes gains by leaps and bounds.

Kevin Jones

North America’s Big Three pickup and commercial vehicle manufacturers each closed out 2022 with positive reports, highlighted the Ford F-150 continuing its long reign as America’s top-selling, while GM extended its run for total pickup sales and Rams’ commercial fleet posted huge gains, paced by Ram ProMaster.

Ford

Ford reported the F-Series will surpass 640,000 trucks in 2022, making it America’s best-selling truck for 46 consecutive years and America’s best-selling vehicle for 41 years after selling an average of at least one F-Series Truck every 49 seconds last year.

From F-150 to F-550 chassis cab, entry level XL to well-equipped Limited, EcoBoost to the all-electric F-150 Lightning, lined bumper to bumper, all of the Ford F-Series trucks sold last year would stretch approximately 2,400 miles, or further than the driving distance from Los Angeles to Detroit.

“The Ford truck team’s ability to anticipate customer needs, continuously innovate, and provide best-in-class levels of capability and performance has helped make F-Series the sales leader time and time again,” said Kumar Galhotra, president, Ford Blue. “We’re honored and humbled that our customers have helped us achieve this milestone for more than four decades.”

F-Series celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and continues to set the tone for innovation and lead the industry with the all-electric F-150 Lightning, which began sales in 2022 and immediately became the best-selling EV pickup on the market.

Furthermore, the all-new F-Series Super Duty has racked up 150,000 orders, with deliveries set to start early this year.

GM

GM, meanwhile, boasted the #1 ranking for total pickups for the ninth straight year, as well the top spot for LD and HD pickups for the third straight year. In 2022, GM sold more than 1.1 million full-size pickups, midsize pickups and full-size SUVs, the company reported.

“GM is carrying strong momentum in North America into 2023,” Steve Carlisle, GM executive vice president and president of GM North America, said in a statement. “We see opportunities to grow our EV market share with nine all-electric models on sale, expand our truck leadership with four new Chevrolet and GMC heavy-duty and midsize pickups, and win new customers with the affordable and stylish 2024 Chevrolet Trax, which is the best entry-level vehicle we’ve ever built.”

Ram

Ram’s total U.S. sales within its commercial fleet channel increased 28% versus 2021 and booked a gain of 72% in total sales in the fourth quarter versus same period last year, the FCA US LLC brand reported.

Strength of demand for Ram commercial fleet vehicles gave the Ram ProMaster van its best-ever fourth quarter total U.S. sales, up 33% versus the same period last year. The Ram ProMaster City sees its best-ever retail sales in the fourth quarter, up 102%, and its second-best total U.S. fourth quarter sales, up 83% versus the same period last year.

The Ram Truck brand unveiled its Ram 1500 Revolution (BEV) Concept at the influential tech event, CES 2023, in Las Vegas on January 5. Additionally the Ram 1500 ranked No.1 in J.D. Power APEAL Study for the third year in a row, and U.S. News & World Report has named Ram the Best Truck Brand for 2023.

“For the fourth consecutive year, Ram wins the award on the strength of the Ram 1500, which is one of the few trucks on the market to make the case for itself as both a work vehicle and a daily driver,” said Jim Sharifi, managing editor of U.S. News Best Cars. “The Ram 1500 features a coil-spring rear suspension that makes it comfortable enough for commuting but capable enough for serious towing and hauling.”

About the Author

Kevin Jones | Editor

Kevin has served as editor-in-chief of Trailer/Body Builders magazine since 2017—just the third editor in the magazine’s 60 years. He is also editorial director for Endeavor Business Media’s Commercial Vehicle group, which includes FleetOwner, Bulk Transporter, Refrigerated Transporter, American Trucker, and Fleet Maintenance magazines and websites.

Working from Little Rock, Kevin has covered trucking and manufacturing for 15 years. His writing and commentary about the trucking industry and, previously, business and government, has been recognized with numerous state, regional, and national journalism awards.