It may come as no surprise that the Ford Transit is leading the commercial large van sales in March of 2016. Ford has been dominant in the commercial van market for a long time. Did you know that all Ford commercial vehicles are number one among all commercial vehicle manufacturers in the United States?
The NTEA (The Association for the Work Truck Industry) IHS Automotive report for the calendar year 2015 states that Ford has 26.6% share of the entire commercial vehicle market. Freightliner is second at 20.0% share. Dodge/Ram are number three at 8.8%. And Chevrolet is next with 6.7%.
When reached for comment, Ford’s US Sales Analyst – Erich Merkle – attributed the van sales success to “van performance, utility, and durability, variety of configuration options, and convenience of dealership and service center network.”
While the Transit had a great sales month in March, the Chevrolet Express was the best improved for the month. The Chevy full-size van grew 69.6% over March of last year. Ram ProMaster also had a very successful month with 41.0% improvement over last year.
The Nissan NV van has passed the struggling GMC Savana van lineup.
The Ford E-Series continues sales of chassis and cutaway vans. While it’s sales are lower than last year, it’s still good for third place.
Full-size Commercial Van – March 2016 Sales
| Mar 2016 # | Mar ’16 / ’15 % | YTD 2016 # | YTD ’16 / ’15 % | |
| Ford Transit | 14,895 | 52.8% | 36,022 | 57.4% |
| Chevy Express | 6,291 | 69.6% | 13,515 | 28.6% |
| Ford E-Series | 5,816 | -6.3% | 12,648 | -9.1% |
| Ram ProMaster | 3,302 | 41.0% | 8,394 | 51.0% |
| Nissan NV | 1,791 | 20.6% | 4,517 | 21.0% |
| GMC Savana | 1,244 | -30.9% | 4,124 | -22.0% |
*Mercedes-Benz Sprinter sales numbers are now reported in combination with the Mercedes-Benz Metris van. TFLtruck will inquire about the specific Sprinter sales number and update the report.
Here is a detailed review of the Ram ProMaster.
