Ford F-150 Drops To Third In Sales-Chevy Silverado Down 25%: What’s Going On?
Both Chevy Silverado and Ford F150 pickups have seen a drastic drop in sales through February of 2021. And in particular, the Ford F150 has dropped to third behind both the Toyota Corolla and RAV4. The F150 has been the best-selling vehicle in America for decades. While both pickups have dropped, the number one and two Corolla and RAV4 see similar numbers to last year. So, what’s going on?
These figures come from focus2move that crunches numbers for the auto industry. It shows that Ford sold 145,992 F-series trucks. That number is 24.2% lower than during the same period last year.
Chevy Silverado sales dropped to 7th place worldwide
The Chevy Silverado dropped to 7th place worldwide with 86,279 sold which is over 25% behind the same point last year. By comparison, the Corolla sold 174,168 sedans from January first to the end of February. During the same period, the RAV4 sold 159,495 crossovers. Those numbers are almost identical to 2020’s figures.
For numbers from the top manufacturers, Toyota leads worldwide with 1.32 million vehicles sold through February. That number is up by 2.2% over last year’s sales. Volkswagen sold 740,876 worldwide so far to snag second place. Honda came in third place selling 595,850 units which is an increase of 10%.
The number of sales by Toyota supports it being called the most valuable auto brand in the world. Many feel that Toyota’s reputation for quality, reliability, and convenience, are reasons why. Ford was down almost 18% but still was able to come in fourth worldwide, with Hyundai selling 588,534 vehicles to take fifth place.
Filling out the top 10 brands was Nissan in sixth with 577,936 sold
Filling out the top 10 brands was Nissan in sixth with 577,936 sold; Chevrolet down almost 23% with 418,406 sold; KIA in eighth with just over 400,000 units finding buyers; Mercedes selling 363,145 for the ninth place; and BMW coming in 10th with 336,434 sales. That BMW number is up by 17.4% over 2020.
Some of what floats the F150 boat is marketing the truck as the number one best-selling vehicle. It is still the best-selling pickup, but every marketing notch Ford can use certainly helps. We expect Ford will pull out all of the stops to retake the number one spot in 2021.
Could pickup sales be lagging due to the chip shortage which has limited production? Or could potential customers be waiting for the EV version? With expected deliveries starting in mid-2022 it is over a year away. Ford doesn’t say what it expects to sell as far as numbers go. So, we don’t know the expectation for sales. But if customers are waiting for the EV F150 then sales may be off for 2021 but might explode with EV sales for 2022. We’ll know more by the end of May or June this year.
