Ford F-150 tops US sales chart again, but there’s an asterisk

The Ford F-Series range of pickup trucks is the top selling vehicle in the US for the 42nd straight year, once again seeing off competition from Chevrolet and Ram.

In 2023, Ford sold 750,789 F-Series models, up 14.8 per cent from the year before. The Blue Oval unfortunately didn’t break out figures for the all-electric Lightning or the hybrid variants, but claims they were the best-selling electric and hybrid pickups last year.

As with previous years, the other podium positions were filled by Ford’s direct rivals. In second was the Chevrolet Silverado (up 6.6 per cent to 555,148), while third was the Ram pickup line (down 5.0 per cent to 444,927).

Although the Ford brand can boast having the number one full-size pickup line, GM can claim to have best-selling range of full-size pickups, as its GMC marque sold 295,738 Sierras (up 22.5 per cent). Combined, their 850,886 tally bests the F-Series by over 100,000 sales.

While the pair have distinct exterior styling — and the Sierra can boast a few extra features, including multi-piece tailgate, carbon-fibre bed, and more luxurious trim — the two are mechanically identical.

Top 10

The Toyota RAV4 (up 18.6 per cent to 434,943) and Honda CR-V (up 51.8 per cent to 361,457) round out the top five, for now. We’re still waiting on figures from a few manufacturers, including Tesla.

Based on current numbers we expect the Model Y to come in somewhere between 375,000 and 390,000, meaning it should edge the CR-V out of fifth place.

Given sales in earlier months, the Model 3 will probably sell between 225,000 to 235,000 units. Should our guess be correct, the only sedan in the top 10 will be the Toyota Camry (down 1.5 per cent to 290,649).

Rounding out predicted top 10 are the Nissan Rogue/X-Trail (up 45.6 per cent to 271,458), and the Jeep Grand Cherokee (up 9.5 per cent to 244,597).

Lurking just outside the top tier is the country’s top mid-size ute, the Toyota Tacoma (up 8.8 per cent to 234,768). Further down the list is America’s number one van, the Ford Transit (up 29.8 per cent to 129,009), and the best-selling people mover, the Chrysler Pacifica (up 22.4 per cent to 120,665).

The Ford Mustang (up 11.8 per cent to 53,159) was the nation’s top two-door model, and it also outsold its name crossover, the Mustang Mach-E (up 3.3 per cent to 40,771).

Manufacturer rankings

General Motors kept it overall sales crown, with sales up 13.7 per cent to 2,580,459.

The other podium spots were unchanged, with Toyota up 9.3 per cent to 2,209,190, and Ford up 7.3 per cent to 1,985,482.

Buoyed by strong increases across the board, the Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Kia and Genesis, surged 13.5 per cent to 1,647,772, pushing it past Stellantis, which was down 1.4 per cent to 1,525,434.

Although it didn’t gain a place, Honda saw a big 32.4 per cent jump in sales to 1,302,246 on the back of similarly large rises for the CR-V, Accord and Civic.