Pickup trucks are seldom the first vehicle that a new driver would want to own. They are more expensive than sedans and require a larger parking space. Trucks might not be a good fit for driving in more congested cities, and they might be costlier to maintain, too.

Yet, millions of new pickup trucks went from dealership to new owners every year in the United States alone. Trucks are some of the most versatile utilitarian vehicles in the automotive world. They don’t just carry people, but they also could haul a large amount of (and even heavy) cargo. Aside from their hauling capability, trucks can become powerful towing machines. Moreover, trucks are typically dependable on most terrain, whether on or off the road.

Thus, even with the surging demand for SUVs and crossovers, millions of drivers are still buying pickup trucks. Whether for work, adventure or even daily drives, trucks have proven to be dependable enough to gain the trust and confidence of customers.

In 2020, pickup trucks outsold cars for the first time. In the same year, the top three best-selling vehicles in 2020 are trucks. Interestingly, the trend continues in 2021 with three American trucks – Ford F-Series, Ram Trucks and Chevrolet Silverado -- still on top.

Ford F-Series Is The Best-Selling Truck As Usual

2021 Ford F-150 Lariat
Ford

The identity of the best-selling truck in 2021 is hardly surprising. After all, 2021 is the 45th straight year that the Ford F-Series is lording over the truck category. Despite a drop in sales in 2021, the F-Series still sits on the truck sales throne. In 2021, Ford sold a total of F-Series (including all models and variants) 726,004 units. This represents a 7.8% plunge in sales over 2020, when the carmaker sold 787,422 units of the F-Series.

Ford’s F-Series actually got to a great start in 2021. While its sales in the first two months of 2021 were down in the period, demand surged drastically in March to around 84,000 trucks. Its sales, however, dipped from the first quarter (203,797) to the second quarter to just 158,235 units. In this quarter, the F-Series dropped to third spot in truck sales.

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Year-on-year third quarter sales for the F-Series saw a massive plunge to 172,799 units, but it was more than enough to outsell Ram Trucks and the Silverado. Sales still dropped – albeit a small one -- in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 191,173 units.

First-Half Sales Surge Pushes Ram Trucks To Second

2021 Ram 1500 TRX
Via Stellantis

Among the three pickup trucks, only Ram Trucks posted a jump in sales in 2021. Sales surged from 563,676 units in 2020 to 569,388 units in 2021, for an increase of just 1%. It might be only a small hop in sales, but it signifies steady demand for Stellantis’ only pickup truck. In addition, Ram Trucks managed to re-capture position as the #2 best-selling truck in the US from the Chevrolet Silverado.

Ram Trucks had a great start in the first quarter of 2021, surpassing its sales figure in the same period in 2020. Ram Trucks sold 148,837 units in the first quarter of 2021, and proceeded to post a massive jump in sales (around 39%) in the period covering April, May and June. Ram Trucks were the best-selling pickup in these three months, with sales of 164,232 units.

As great as its sales in the first half of 2021 were, Ram Trucks performed miserably in the last two quarters of the year. Sales in the third and fourth quarters of 2021 suffered a huge decline to 121,074 and 135,245 units, respectively. The only bright spot (just a bit) in the second half of the year was November, when sales were nearly flat, improving by only 469 units year-on-year.

Dismal Second Half Drops Chevrolet Silverado To Third

2021 Chevrolet Silverado Realtree Edition
Via GM

The Chevrolet Silverado had been the #2 best-selling truck for years until 2019, when its sales of more than 575,000 dropped it to #3. It lost the #2 position to Ram Trucks. The Silverado managed to regain the position in 2020, when it outsold Ram Trucks at (594,094 to 563,676 units). It was déjà vu for the Silverado in 2021, as it had to settle for #3.

In 2021, Chevrolet sold 529,765 units of the Silverado, representing a 10% decline. While the both the F-Series and Ram Trucks had encouraging first quarter 2021 performance, the Silverado’s was disappointing. Its sales plummeted 12.5% from 144,734 trucks in the first quarter of 2020 to just 126,591 units in the same period in 2021.

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The second quarter of 2021 was a great time for Silverado sales. With all months putting up great figures, sales in the second quarter of 2021 jumped 33.9% from 120,744 to 161,706 units. It even outsold the F-Series in this period by nearly 3,500 units. To this point, the Silverado was still the #2 best-selling truck.

Dull sales in the second half of 2021 offset the gains in the first half. All months suffered sales decline, the worst of which was posted in December (-44.4%). Sales in the third and fourth quarter of the year were 120,856 and 120,612 units, respectively.

Source: Ford, Stellantis, General Motors, Good Car Bad Car