Everything is relative. 2020 was a trash year across the board. Period. But we had the year we had, and that is all we can judge it by. While most of us had a trashcan fire of a year, but Chevrolet is feeling OK about its year. Of course, Ford has first place wrapped up with the F-150, but the 2020 Chevy Silverado somehow jumped the Ram 1500 last year for second place. And everyone knows, second place is really first place when first place is unattainable. 

The 2020 Chevy Silverado was a bit of a dark horse

Motor1 specifies that this is a total of all trucks, HD, half-ton, and everything in between. Even though Ford hasn’t reported its Q4 numbers yet, seeing as how it had a comfy six-figure lead at the end of Q3, Ford is sitting pretty. 

Chevy didn’t have the best year for muscle cars, but the trucks totally bailed out its hot-shot car segment. All year, the Ram was getting great reviews and seemingly the favorite by most critics, but the sales figures show a tight but different story. The Chevy Silverado eeked out a victory by about 30,000 units. Chevrolet sold a total of 594,094 Silverados while Ram only delivered 562,676 units. 

Chevy had a red-letter year 

Although most manufacturers saw their sales numbers decrease this year, GM actually was one of only a few companies that saw a sales increase from 2019 to 2020. GM sold 3.2 percent more units in 2020 than it did in 2019. The Silverado passing the Ram was interesting but not completely outside the realm of possibilities for truck sales. 

What is the highest-rated pickup truck? 

Here’s a hint it’s not the one that sells the most. Obviously, there are many people out there reviewing and rating vehicles, and these ratings can conflict. However, Consumer Reports is one of the more well-trusted critics in the game, and pickup truck sales rarely reflect their ratings.

The F-150 continues to be not only the best seller in trucks but also one of the highest-selling vehicles period. If you look at how the F-150 gets rated by Consumer Reports, you’ll see a paper full of red marks. The same is true for the Ram and Silverado. The Ram outperformed on CR’s tests and consumer polls, but the Silverado still sold more trucks. Pickup truck buyers have intense loyalties, and they are hard-pressed to be broken. 

How did other trucks sell in 2020?

Pretty good, actually. GMC sold a quarter of a million Sierras, earning it fourth place. Not to be forgotten are the FUll-size Japanese trucks ringing in fifth and sixth place, with the Tundra selling 109,203 units and the Titan moving a measly 26,439 units. 

The 2020 Chevy Silverado sits at the right hand of the F-150

Even though this year was a total mess and routinely threw off most of our plans, Chevy trucked through (pun intended) and made this year for it. The Silverado is a modern classic that, regardless of how good it is, objectively, the people have spoken, and the Silverado has taken its rightful place in the truck pantheon.