Ford and GM both say they have the best-selling trucks. So who does?
Could both automakers be correct?
The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling truck line for 45 years running, but don’t tell that to Mary Barra.
Highlighting strong truck sales, the General Motors CEO said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that "in fact, we took full-size pickup leadership from the Ford F-Series in 2020 and have held it ever since."
So, who’s correct?
Both of them, actually, from a certain point of view.
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The F-Series undoubtedly has the most sales of any single brand’s truck lineup, with 467,307 through September of this year compared to the Chevrolet Silverado’s 374,479 and Ram’s 363,089.
The thing is, while the Ford Motor Company only sells pickups under the Ford banner, its previous attempts to sell Lincoln pickups being short-lived, General Motors also offers the GMC Sierra.
"We took full-size pickup leadership from the Ford F-Series in 2020 …"
GM CEO Mary Barra
Combining Sierra sales with Silverado sales brings the total to 543,586, giving GM a commanding lead in the full-size truck segment, which it has held in this way since 2020.
While some might call it a technicality, the two trucks are mechanically identical with only the styling and some feature content separating the two, which are built alongside each other at the same factories.
The conflicting claims may continue as the truck segment shifts to electric power.
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GM has unveiled the Chevrolet Silverado EV that goes on sale next year and the GMC Sierra EV that will follow it, which will both be built on the same Ultium electric truck platform in the same fashion as the current pair.
Their styling is more distinct this time around, with the Sierra EV sporting a traditional squared-off pickup profile, while the Silverado EV has a buttress-style roofline that flows into the sides of the bed at a more gentle slope.
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Ford can lay claim to having the best-selling full-size electric pickup for now, however, with more than 8,760 F-150 Lightnings delivered so far this year, which it breaks out for reporting, also counts toward the full F-Series sales total.