2021 Ram 1500 Beats 2021 Chevy Silverado, But There is Much More to the Story

Everyone in the Detroit Three is claiming a win, of sorts, when it comes to truck sales. What is really behind the numbers.

It was a day of dueling news releases as sales numbers for 2021 are finalized and the Detroit Three all have truck numbers to be proud of. The 2021 Ram 1500 outsold the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado. If you add in the Silverado’s sibling, the 2021 GMC Sierra, their total numbers are huge. Ford releases its sales numbers tomorrow but have been tweeting all week that it is the company’s 45th years of truck sales leadership.

2021 Ram 1500 Sales Numbers

In 2021, Ram sold 569,388 pickups. That total is up 1 percent from 2020’s sales of 563,676 pickups. In total, Ram’s overall sales were up 4 percent, because the Ram Promaster van saw a 25 percent sales increase. The semiconductor chip shortage definitely impacted sales numbers.

"2021 had unique challenges driven by the various supply chain issues, but our dealers didn’t let that slow them down, and we're proud of their sales performance," said U.S. Head of Sales Jeff Kommor. "As we head into the new year, demand for our vehicles continues to be strong and our inventory is improving.

Total Stellantis sales in the U.S. were down 2 percent in 2021.

2021 General Motors’ Truck Sales

In 2021 Chevy sold 529,765 Chevrolet Silverados, so yes, technically Ram beat Silverado. However, when you add in the Silverado’s sibling the GMC Sierra, the sales numbers change significantly. According to GM “Combined sales of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra LD and HD were 768,689. The company’s share of the retail market in 2021 was approximately 39 percent.” Again, the semiconductor chip shortage was considered a huge issue.

“All year we focused on delivering as many of our high demand, capacity-constrained products as possible and the strategy worked,” said Steve Carlisle, GM executive vice president and president, GM North America. “Our dealers and our engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and brand teams moved mountains to satisfy as many customers as possible in 2021, despite record low inventories caused by semiconductor supply chain issues during the third and fourth quarters.”

“In 2022, we plan to take advantage of the strong economy and anticipated improved semiconductor supplies to grow our sales and share. We will also further strengthen our industry leadership in trucks and begin our drive to EV leadership in North America with the rollouts of the GMC HUMMER EV, Cadillac LYRIQ and the reveals of the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV,” Carlisle said.

Overall, GM says its sales fell 13 percent.

Ford is expected to release its sales figures Wednesday. Both General Motors and Ram’s parent company Stellantis have announcements scheduled for Wednesday, January 5th at CES in Las Vegas. Both are expected to highlight EV plans for the future including pickup EVs. Ford does not have an official presence at CES, although a Ford F-150 Lightning EV has been spotted driving around the Las Vegas convention center.

Ram Photo

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