For 45th Year, Ford F-150 Retains Crown As Truck Market Leader

With a lead of almost 150,000 vehicles over its nearest rival, the Ford Motor Co. is on its way to keeping its claim to the top sales slot in the truck market for the 45th consecutive year.

For the 45th consecutive year, Ford's F-Series of pickups – F-150 – retained the crown as the truck market leader. For the year through November, sales of the F-Series totaled 663,508 pickups.

Maverick In Tight Supply

Ford expanded its lead in trucks to 144,049 vehicles for the year. The automaker's all-new Maverick is in tight supply. The number of Maverick compact pickups, which is exceedingly popular in the 18- to 35-year-old market segment, in transit at the end of November were up 106 percent over the month before.

The Maverick, which jumped in popularity right from its debut, is Ford's entry into the compact pickup market. With a base price point in the low- to mid-$20,000 range, the Maverick has a distinct price advantage over full-sized trucks. On average, the Maverick has a $25,000 to $35,000 price advantage over its truck mates in the Ford line. Since its October launch, the Maverick has sold 7,228 vehicles.

In total, Ford was the number one selling automaker for the third month in a row in November. In November, Ford was the only major U.S. automaker to report a year-over-year sales increase. Sales were up 5.9 percent over last year.

The automaker's retail share total an estimated 13.8 percent, 2.7 percentage points higher than November last year. Ford's electrified vehicle segment grew at a rate more than three times faster than the overall electrified vehicle segment, taking Ford's electrified vehicle share to 10 percent compared to 5.4 percent last year. This set up record November sales of 11,116 electrified vehicles, up a total of 153.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Ford aims to jump into second place behind Tesla in electric vehicle sales.

New Products Responsible For Fortunes

New products are responsible for boosting Ford's fortunes, with the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Hybrid reporting sales of 3,088 and 4,767, respectively.

Ford received 74,000 new vehicle retail orders for the month, up from 64,000 vehicle orders last November. Customer orders continued at record rates, and 29 percent of Ford retail sales resulted from previously placed customer orders in November.

Ford brand SUVs achieved record November retail sales on the success of new products. Sales were up 25.6 percent over a year ago on total sales of 66,390 vehicles. The Bronco family had its highest combined sales since its launch totaling 19,774 SUVs. Mustang Mach-E sales were up 8.4 percent from October. Customer orders continued at record rates.

Combined, Ford's newest must-have vehicles, including the Mustang Mach-E, Bronco, Bronco Sport, and Maverick, have the fastest turn rate on dealer lots. Ford finds its newest products are turning in under 12 days, with Maverick leading at a short five days – essentially trailer-to-customer. For those looking for Maverick Hybrid models, the automaker noted that the Maverick Hybrid had its first sales at the end of November, also noting that more Hybrids are on the way.

Ford Truck Sales Climb

Ford's total pickup truck sales climbed 15.8 percent, compared to a year ago, with sales totaling 70,839. F-Series sales rose 14.6 percent, expanding its leadership position over the second-place competitor.

An enthusiastic Andrew Frick, vice president of Ford Sales, U.S., and Canada, said of the new products:

"Our new products continue to roll, making Ford America's best-selling automaker for the third consecutive month, a feat last accomplished in 1974. Ford was also the only major U.S. automaker to beat sales results for November a year ago. On the strength of Mustang Mach-E, Ford delivered record electrified vehicle sales, growing more than three times faster than the overall segment. Retail sales were up 4.5 percent over a year ago, with SUVs having a best-ever November sales performance on record sales of our all-new Bronco family. We expect growth to continue, thanks to adding an additional 74,000 new vehicle orders in November."

Marc Stern has been an automotive writer since 1971 when an otherwise normal news editor said, "You're our new car editor," and dumped about 27 pounds of auto stuff on my desk. I was in heaven as I have been a gearhead from my early days. As a teen, I spent the usual number of misspent hours hanging out at gas stations Shell and Texaco (a big thing in my youth) and working on cars. From there on, it was a straight line to my first column for the paper, "You Auto Know," an enterprise that I handled faithfully for 32 years. Not many people know that I also handled computer documentation for a good part of my living while writing YAN. My best writing, though, was always in cars. My work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, and others. You can follow me on: Twitter or Facebook.