The largest U.S. automaker General Motors (GM, Financial) has edged out its cross-town rival Ford (F, Financial) in pickup truck market share. General Motors’ pickup trucks have put up a robust performance in the first half of the year with sales of full-size and mid-size pickups soaring 8% and 33%, respectively, thereby bringing the company’s pickup market share to 34%. Ford’s market share stood at 32%.
Bird’s-eye view
Both General Motors and Ford had a market share of 32% each in the pickup car segment in the first half of 2017. Due to lack of fresh offerings by the Blue Oval, its market share has got stuck at 32% as of now.
General Motors might have sold fewer vehicles during the six-month period than it did last year, yet sales of pickups continue to be on the rise as the company looks to clear the inventory of its old pickup models to make way for the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and 2019 GMC Sierra.
One of the reasons why General Motors is ahead of Ford in the race to gain higher pickup market share is because Ford does not offer any midsize pickup truck. As a matter of fact, the competition will intensify once Ford introduces its Ford Ranger (after eight years’ absence) next year.
When all of the company’s pickups are taken together, General Motors sold a record 949,909 vehicles last year. Its arch-rival Ford sold 896,764 F-Series during the same period without having offered a midsize truck. Indeed, the Blue Oval has a 39% market share in the full-size pickup segment, up from 38.4% in the first half of previous year. Midsize pickups remained the difference between the two automotive giant. Factoring in midsize pickups, General Motors emerged a clear winner in pickup sales.
What to expect
General Motors will see intensifying competition come the second half of the year and into 2019. Ram 1500 will make life more difficult for Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. Furthermore, Jeep pickup truck will also hit the market to battle Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon after its production starts in April 2019.
Toyota (TM, Financial) and Nissan (NSANY, Financial) would also bring in a flurry of new midsize trucks in the near future. For the time being, General Motors remains the leader in the U.S. pickup truck market, and the company would definitely like to be in a dominant position regardless of the new entrants of pickups by other car companies.
Disclosure: I do not hold any position in the stocks mentioned in this article.
