2023 Pickup Trucks: The Biggest Winners and Losers So Far This Year
As far as new cars go, one segment dominates the American car market: pickup trucks. That’s been the case for a few years, and a handful of pickup trucks dominate not only the segment but also the American car market. Here’s a look at 2023 pickup truck sales and which models are selling well and which are performing poorly.
The Rivian R1T, Honda Ridgeline, and Ford F-Series are big winners
GoodCarBadCar recently published the most recent 2023 pickup truck sales data, and there are a few main takeaways. Off the bat, although some trucks saw a decline in sales, by and large, the truck segment is still growing. Year-to-date, automakers have sold just over 660,000 trucks so far in 2023, a slight increase from the 650,000 units in the same period last year.
The two trucks that saw the biggest percentage growth in sales were the Rivian R1T and the Honda Ridgeline. Year-to-date, Rivian has sold just around 3,500 units of the R1T. That’s a massive 283% increase from the same period last year. This significant increase happened primarily because Rivian has been dealing with supply chain issues, so the EV startup had trouble getting EVs out the door last year.
Meanwhile, the Ridgeline has sold just over 12,900 units in 2023. That’s a 40% increase from the same period last year. That said, the most significant sales growth in raw numbers went to the Ford F-Series. The F-Series continues to be the best-selling truck lineup. Ford has sold over 170,000 units already, a 21% increase over last year. In raw numbers, though, the F-Series has sold 30,000 more units year-to-date than in 2022.
Many other trucks are also selling a bit better than last year
A few other popular trucks saw a similar percentage as the F-Series. For example, the Toyota Tundra has sold about 27,000 units year-to-date, a 22% increase from last year. The GMC Sierra has sold 67,000 units in 2023, an 18% increase from 2022. That said, of the trucks that saw sales increases, many had more modest growth.
For instance, the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz saw a roughly 11% increase. The Chevy Silverado is the second best-selling truck, as Chevrolet has sold almost 127,000 units in 2023. However, that’s only a roughly 5% increase from the previous year. The Toyota Tacoma is the last truck experiencing sales growth, but only barely. Due to an abysmal March, the Tacoma’s year-to-date sales growth is only 0.75%.
These pickup trucks are the losers of 2023 so far
On the other end of the spectrum, many of the less popular trucks have only gotten less popular. The main exception is the Ram pickup. It’s the third best-selling truck in America, as it’s sold over 105,000 units so far this year. However, that’s a steep 17% decline from 2022. In raw numbers, Ram has sold about 22,000 fewer units.
The Jeep Gladiator, GMC Canyon, Ford Ranger, and Nissan Titan weren’t very popular last year, and they’ve continued a downward trend in sales. There were big declines too, as the Ranger’s sales dropped by about 35% compared to 2022. However, the biggest loser other than the Ram is the Chevy Colorado. Chevrolet sold about 13,000 units year-to-date. That’s a nearly 39% decline. In raw numbers, the Colorado is selling about 8,400 fewer units.