Ford keeps its lead, sort of, GM full-size trucks steady and the midsize truck market saw some massive losses when looking at the 2023 Q4 truck sales results.
UAW strikes, supply chain chaos and rising supply prices hampered the automotive industry last year and the results reflect it.
2023 Q4 truck sales results: full-size trucks
The full-size truck market continues to be one of the largest automotive markets in the country and Ford remains at the top.
While the Ford F-Series had a disappointing quarter hampered by the UAW strike closing down plants, like the Kentucky Truck Plant, overall sales were up 14.8%. A newly refreshed 2024 Ford F-150 should be hitting the dealer lots soon and the newly refreshed Ford Super Duty, the 2024 NACTOY Truck of the Year, should also be filling dealer lots next year.
Next, the Chevy Silverado posted a 5.8% sales gain and solidified its spot as number 2. It is interesting to note if you combined GMC sales, the total would best Ford by 88,275 trucks, however, we report the sales results as they are provided by automakers.
For the 2024 model year the Silverado sees a few changes, but not a complete refresh like the Ford F-150.
Ram trucks come in third with a 5% sales loss year over year. There’s a new 2024 Ram 1500 that should hit dealer lots by the summer of 2024 which should help. However, Ram dropped the Hemi V8 and it is still not clear how much not having a V8 will impact sales.
GMC comes in with a big sales increase of 22.4% year over year. Like the Chevy Silverado, the 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 doesn’t see a ton of changes nor does the GMC Sierra HD.
The Toyota Tundra is fourth with a double-digit increase in sales at 20%. With the San Antonio, Texas plant now focused on just building the Tundra and Sequoia (Tacoma is made in Mexico), the result should be better sales thanks to more volume. We can see that in the numbers. Historically, the Tundra has sold around 20,000 trucks per quarter and now they sell about 30,000 trucks in the same time frame. There’s not many changes for the 2024 model year.
Rounding out the list is the now discontinued Nissan Titan with the Canton, Mississippi plant pushing out the remaining trucks and dealers emptying their lots. There will likely be a few sales next year turning to zero for the year after.
Tacoma continues to dominate midsize truck sales
The midsize truck market saw the most changes in a decade or better with the Tacoma, GM twins, Ford Ranger all seeing massive changes for the 2023 and 2024 model year.
Starting with the perennial midsize truck king, the 2024 Tacoma gets a massive overhaul and, rather surprisingly, the sales haven’t dipped like they typically do when a new model is on the way. Instead, sales were pretty steady at just a slight loss of -.8%
Next up is the Chevy Colorado at 71,081 units sold, however, down 20.3%. This truck was hit hard by the UAW strike with the Wentzville, MO plant targeted at the onset. A 2024 Colorado is coming soon with slight changes building on the refreshed 2023 model.
The Nissan Frontier hangs onto the third place with just 3,000 trucks separating the next three competitors. It has an interesting spot in the market with Tacoma like looks and a naturally aspirated engine versus the Tacoma, GM twins and Ranger all going with a turbocharged engine lineup. Nissan did announce a hardboy version of the Frontier for 2023 and that’s about it.
Coming in fourth is the Jeep Gladiator. It received a slight refresh and two special editions for the 2024 model year, but it wasn’t enough with sales sliding down 29% year over year. There’s a 4xe plug-in hybrid in development that could help attract new buyers.
The Honda Ridgeline is raising some eyebrows with a big year of growth and basically small changes including a new Trailsport trim. This truck, that’s not a truck for traditional buyers, keeps attracting customers looking for a smoother ride of an SUV with the utility of a truck bed. There’s not much planned for the next model year.
With just 831 trucks sold, the Ford Ranger comes in next to last with 32,334 annual sales. This truck got the double whammy of the UAW strike hitting right when Ford was getting ready to build the all-new 2024 Ranger. It should crush those sales numbers next year when production gets on track.
Coming in dead last is the GMC Canyon which, like the Chevy Colorado, got hit pretty hard by the UAW strike. It still should have done better considering there’s only a new trim for 2024 and GM had all summer to build up supply.
Compact trucks Q4 sales
Next the compact truck results are pretty simple: Ford Maverick crushes slow sales expectations again and the Hyundai Santa Cruz remains a good seller for that brand.
Frankly, if Ford could build more Maverick trucks, the growth would have been even larger even with the higher price for the 2024 Maverick.
What will be interesting to see is who else will join this growing market next year. We are hearing rumors Toyota will have an announcement next year.
Electric truck sales
A mixed bag of results for electric trucks with the massive gains since this category is so new.
Rivian continues to lead the pack with solid growth.
The Ford Lightning comes in next with big gains, however, production looks to be paired down next year and starting price went up $5,000. That might cool things down.
The GMC Hummer EV and Chevy Silverado EV combined to be just under 4,000 trucks and SUVs. Not really that meaningful in terms of volume.
| 2023 Q4 Pickup Sales | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-Size Truck Sales | Q4 Sales | Last Year Q4 Sales | Quarterly Change | Year-to-Date | Last Year-to-Date | Year-over-Year Change |
| Ford F-Series | 177,419 | 186,650 | -4.9% | 750,780 | 653,957 | 14.8% |
| Chevy Silverado LD HD |
139,916 89,398 50,518 |
138,875 91,413 47,462 |
.7% -2.2% 6.4% |
543,319 354,775 188,544 |
513,354 324,603 188,751 |
5.8% 9.2% -.2% |
| Ram Truck | 112,486 | 105,255 | 7% | 444,926 | 468,344 | -5% |
| GMC Sierra LD HD |
79,510 51,541 27,969 |
72,415 44,952 27,463 |
9.7% 14.7% 1.8% |
295,737 189,288 106,449 |
241,522 142,404 99,118 |
22.4% 32.9% 7.4% |
| Toyota Tundra | 32,497 | 29,727 | 9.3% | 125,185 | 104,246 | 20% |
| Nissan Titan | 3,782 | 2,576 | 46.8% | 19,189 | 15,063 | 27.4% |
| Midsize Truck Sales | Q4 Sales | Last Year Q4 Sales | Quarterly Change | Year-to-Date | Last Year-to-Date | Year-over-Year Change |
| Toyota Tacoma | 55,087 | 55,466 | -0.1% | 234,768 | 237,323 | -0.8% |
| Chevrolet Colorado | 12,396 | 20,602 | -39.8% | 71,081 | 89,197 | -20.3% |
| Nissan Frontier | 12,240 | 19,830 | -38.3% | 58,135 | 76,183 | 27.4% |
| Jeep Gladiator | 13,660 | 17,587 | -22% | 55,188 | 77,855 | -29% |
| Honda Ridgeline | 12,433 | 10,450 | 19% | 52,001 | 42,762 | 22.0% |
| Ford Ranger | 831 | 10,712 | -92.2% | 32,334 | 57,005 | -43.3% |
| GMC Canyon | 3,107 | 6,408 | -51.5% | 22,458 | 27,819 | -19.3% |
| Compact Pickup Sales | Q4 Sales | Last Year Q4 Sales | Quarterly Change | Year-to-Date | Last Year-to-Date | Year-over-Year Change |
| Ford Maverick | 27,628 | 22,568 | 22.4% | 94,058 | 74,370 | 26.5% |
| Hyundai Santa Cruz | 7,592 | 9,677 | -22% | 36,675 | 36,480 | 1% |
| EV Truck Sales | Q4 Sales | Last Year Q4 Sales | Quarterly Change | Year-to-Date | Last Year-to-Date | Year-over-Year Change |
| Rivian – R1T, R1S, Van | 17,541 | 10,020 | 75% | 57,232 | 42,453 | 135% |
| Ford Lightning | 11,905 | 6,857 | 73.6% | 24,164 | 15,617 | 54.7% |
| GMC Hummer EV | 2,028 | 72 | 2716.7% | 3,244 | 854 | 279.9% |
| Chevrolet Silverado EV | 443 | – | – | 463 | – | – |
The bottom line
Full-size trucks continue to dominate the truck market while compact truck sales are still seeing the biggest growth opportunity. It is hard to make sense of midsize truck sales with the UAW strike and the new trucks still not on the dealer lots. Electric truck sales should continue to grow as well with more supply and it will be interesting to watch how consumers respond to even more competition with the Tesla Cybertruck starting to get into owner’s hands.
