Although Toyota posted its best-ever light truck sales for the second consecutive month, its market share in the midsize truck segment is rapidly declining. With a healthy 16,580 Tacomas sold in July, Toyota is still selling every midsize pickup it can produce. However, GM has upped its midsize truck production capacity by about 30% overall since last year. The result is that for July GM delivered 9,195 Colorados to dealers and 3,532 Canyons left the factory*.
These gains by GM would have cut into Toyota’s midsize pickup market share, but the older than dirt Nissan Frontier continues to be an overachiever. Nissan sold 7,244 midsize trucks, up an astounding 73% over last year. That without changing the model in any significant way.
Honda is now solidly in the game as well. With 3,518 of its all-new Ridgeline sold in just month two of its launch GM had better watch its back. The Ridgeline enters the market tied with the Canyon for sales. It would not be a surprise if the Ridgeline moved to the number three slot behind the Tacoma and Colorado in sales as soon as this fall. Ford and Ram do not presently have any midsize trucks for sale in the U.S. market.
*Note that GM, like FCA, does not report direct sales to end buyers, but rather on deliveries to dealers. This is a minor note when vehicles sell fast, but can skew the sales picture slightly.
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