We’re back for a complete rundown of how your favorite truck fared in the marketplace over the last 30 days. Well, mostly. GM doesn’t release monthly sales figures anymore, remember?
READ MORE: Tracking Trucks: Ford Up, GM and Ram Down
Detroit Three
No fewer than 73,104 Ford trucks found new homes last month. The last time Ford shifted that many F-Series pickups in April, the world was still freaking out about the Y2K bug. This makes for 12 consecutive months of year-over-year increases, a torrid pace to be sure. That statement doesn’t mean they sold more than last month (in fact, over ten thousand more F-Series were sold in March) but simply means they sold more in April 2018 than in April 2017, for example.
The company says trim levels Lariat, King Ranch, Platinum and Limited Super Duty pickups represent nearly half of sales. Overall F-Series average transaction prices rose $900 last month. It’s also worth noting the Navigator is selling like gangbusters, recording a 122% increase to 1566 units last month, levels not seen since Nelly rapped about them in Country Grammar.
FCA has documented struggles with the launch of its snazzy 2019 Ram 1500, and the sales numbers prove that point. A total of 39,252 Ram pickups drove off dealer lots last month compared to 43,321 during the same time period one year ago. Year to date, the truck is down an alarming double-digit percentage, off by 12% in fact. The dearth of engine choices on the new truck right now(e-Torque and V6 models are MIA) cannot be helping. Here’s hoping they get the ship righted and turned around.
READ MORE: FCA Spends $300M Trying to Remedy Slow 2019 Ram 1500 Ramp Up
Over at GM, well, it’s hard to say. With the company no longer providing monthly sales numbers it is impossible to tell how individual models are faring in the marketplace. Best guesstimates from industry types peg The General’s performance as down slightly last month but up about 2% for the entire year to date. GM won’t be releasing any more sales figures until June.
Outside the Motor City
Beyond the Detroit Three, Toyota has been enjoying a whale of a month with its mid-sized Tacoma, as sales are up a full one-fifth compared to last year. Truly a taco truck on every corner, then. It is selling at double the pace of its big brother Tundra, which earned 9457 customers in April and 35,775 truck shoppers so far in 2018.
Sales have cooled at Nissan after last year’s rush in showrooms of customers buying the new Titan, so some perspective is required when looking at these numbers. Sales are off by a third for the Mississippi hauler compared to last April, settling in at 2670 units during the last thirty days. Keep in mind that’s in comparison to a timeframe when the new Titan was being unleashed to great fanfare. So far this year, Nissan has sold roughly the same number of Titans they did in 2017.
The ancient Frontier continues to perform well, despite being older than the dirt it drives over. Nearly 28,000 of the pickups have been sold in 2018, a figure that’s more than 25% higher than last year. Wearing the budget crown has its advantages, not to mention the company has imbued the 2018 base model with a few extra features, further jacking its value proposition.
Jeep
Unsurprisingly, the Wrangler enjoyed a tremendous April, with the new JL hitting showrooms. So far this year, Jeep has sold 85,280 of their signature model, a huge 42% jump compared to the same time frame twelve months ago. Keep in mind that JK and JL Wrangler sales are now lumped together. Yes, the last JK rolled off the line last week but there are still plenty kicking around dealer lots. Best guess? They’ll be all out of the system in a couple of months.